What a Fairy Tale!
by AreWeGonnaHaveAProblem
Summary: Three years after the destruction of Calamity Ganon, Hyrule's princess has come of age to marry. While many nobles wish for her to marry their sons, she has her eyes on her former appointed knight. Part 2 of the "What If?" series. *Ganon was defeated when he showed up, Link did not have to sleep for 100 years* *No one is dead* *Zelink* *Rating has changed*
1. Happy Birthday!

**AN:**

 **I promise that they will actually get together in this one. I am still a sad, fluff loving shipper. I am not Nintendo.**

 **IF YOU HAVEN'T READ** ** _FOURTEEN DANCES_** **, PLEASE DO SO.**

"Good morning, little vai!" Urbosa yells as she enters my room. "Happy birthday!"

It's been three years since the Calamity to the day. Today is my 20th birthday.

I groan and cover my head with my pillow. "Oh, get up! You have a council meeting today. And you know who's going to be there?"

"A bunch of old men complaining about nothing?" I ask from beneath my pillow.

"And a young, handsome marquess, who you've had your eyes on for years." She rips the blanket off of me.

"Let me sleep! It's my birthday!"

"The council will be here in an hour, we've already let you sleep longer than we should have."

-oOo-

She eventually manages to get me out of bed, and we are just in time for the council meeting. "Happy birthday, dear." Father says once I enter.

"Thank you, father."

The council members around the room echo congratulations on my getting older. The meeting goes as they usually do. Which means I spend most of it staring at my former knight. He has grown up significantly. He's a lot taller. He was a late bloomer in that regard. He's at least a head taller than me now. His hair is much longer. He was told to either grow it out or cut it off.

"Are there any other concerns that need to be covered today?" Father asks. One councilman raises his hand. Shit. "Yes?"

"As we have all acknowledged, today your daughter is of legal age to marry. She must take a husband soon to ensure the bloodline of Hylia carries on." I knew it. "My son is of a long, proud line of great Hylian warriors, and would like to request for the princess's hand."

"I believe that I have dictated enough of my daughter's life. In the area of marriage and succession I am giving her free will. As long as she complies by the laws, I will not stop her."

"So, princess, what are your feelings on the matter?" Duke Narkell asks.

"I am sorry, Duke. However, my standards for what makes a great Hylian warrior are very high." I look over to the only man who meets all of my standards without turning my head. "And there is no way that a boy who has had everything handed to him on a silver platter and never even held a sword can qualify." Urbosa begins laughing and I see Link smirk out of the corner of my eye.

"You're the princess, yet you complain about my son having everything handed to him?"

"Narkell, you are out of line!" Father declares.

"No, father, it is fine. The man asked a question, and I am more than willing to answer." I pat his arm lightly before turning back to the man. "You think that my life has been simple?" Thankfully, Link is present so my powers work and my hand lights up. "Do you believe that I didn't have to work for this? I prayed every day for ten years to unlock this. It was on my seventeenth birthday, three years ago to the day, when Calamity Ganon appeared after I prayed at the Spring of Wisdom. It took watching one of my closest friends and the only hope Hyrule had left almost die for my powers to unlock. I may be the princess, but I have had to work for what's important."

"I do believe, that the answer to your original question is no." Father sums up.

"But your majesty!"

"We will have no more discussion of this." Father declares. "Does anyone have any actual concerns?" Nothing. "Council dismissed." The majority of the council mills out of the room. The former champions and I are eventually the only ones left. Mipha and Link standing as far away from each other as possible.

"Your highness." Revali bows dramatically, "I do hope that the rest of your birthday will be more pleasant than that meeting."

"As do I." I sigh.

"It's been too long." Mipha smiles sadly at me.

"I am sad that I have not been able to visit much anymore. I have been very busy."

"We understand." She assures me. Daruk once again wishes me a happy birthday, and the only one left to talk to is _him_.

"Princess."

"Lord."

"Happy Birthday."

"Thank you." We stand awkwardly for a moment. "And how have you been? It has been a while."

"I am well, and you?"

"I am very well."

"Little vai, you better go change. We're kidnapping you for the day." Urbosa informs me.

"Really?" I smile broadly.

"Of course, did you think that I was going to allow you to spend your birthday in meetings?" I did wonder why all of the Champions were present. Link is the only one who attends all of the council meetings, though the rest of them are members. They normally just attend the most important bi-monthly meetings or when something requires their expertise.

"Then I better go change."

-oOo-

Eventually, after I change into my old Champion's tunic, considering that the rest of them were wearing theirs, I meet them at the front of the castle. "So, where are we going?"

"It's a surprise." Urbosa informs me. We walk outside and see four horses waiting for us. I jump up on my steed and they all surround me, Revali taking to the air, and Daruk rolling.

I look over to Link, Lord Link, Urbosa is right, he has become very handsome. Not that he wasn't before, just he's a more mature handsome now. He used to be more cute. "I can't believe that still fits you." He was wearing a jacket or something during the meeting, so I did not notice his bright blue tunic.

"It didn't. Urbosa had a tailor make it larger." I laugh slightly. "Yours does?"

"Barely." My chest is rather constricted.

"It looks fine."

"You all had this planned."

"You think we could have done this all spur of the moment? You think we could have convinced your father to allow us to do this spur of the moment?" He smiles.

"Hylia no. I don't know the last time I left the castle any further than Castle Town."

As we ride through Castle Town, people run and pull their families out to see us all together again. I see a few girls looking at Link and giggling amongst themselves. He doesn't seem to notice. "Will you please tell me where we're going?" I beg.

"No, part of kidnapping you is you not knowing what's happening." Urbosa informs me. A few people yell wishes of "Happy Birthday" to me, and I call back my thanks.

-oOo-

Eventually, we make it to the Great Plateau. The old steps too dangerous to take the horses up, so we board them at the nearby stable. Link and Urbosa take baskets off their saddles. "Are we having a picnic?"

"Perhaps." I smile broadly and follow my champions up to the Great Plateau.

"We figured that you'd enjoy it, get away from the castle and the view is incredible." Link explains.

"Well, you were right." Last year the anniversary of the kingdom overshadowed my birthday. We don't really know how long Hyrule has been around, but we have a day each year we celebrate and last year happened to be the fifteen-thousandth year since we began celebrating.

We eventually make our way to the top of the Great Plateau. Mipha goes off to find some water, as she has been out of it for too long. Urbosa spreads out blankets with Revali as Link unpacks the food. I wander close to the edge, looking over Hyrule Field.

"Are you happy?"

I turn and see my former knight.

"Yes, why?"

"Is what Duke Narkell said bothering you?" He walks closer to me. "You looked like you wanted to snap his neck earlier."

"I did." I admit. "I knew it was coming. All of them have been attempting to get me to court their sons ever since the Calamity. Now that I can legally marry, they're going to go insane."

"How sad for them that they are unaware of how stubborn you are."

"How do you know? Perhaps I have matured over the past three years."

"You admitted to wanting to break a man's neck because he wants you to marry his son." He reminds me.

"LOVEBIRDS! GET OVER HERE!" Urbosa calls. My cheeks heat up yet again, and we walk back over to the others, filled with shame for doing nothing.

They seem to have raided the Castle's kitchen. We all eat and laugh and have a generally fun time. Though the two of us who were once the closest, sit the farthest apart.

Around a year ago, Mipha proposed to Link. She made him the traditional Zora Armor and everything. But, she forgot to confirm something before she did all of this: whether or not he wanted to marry her. Which he apparently did not. They have not spoken since. None of us were present for it, but the story of it spread through the kingdom very quickly. Apparently, Mipha took the armor and destroyed it somehow publicly. I've heard many ways that she destroyed it. Some say she burned it. Others say she ripped it apart with her bare hands.

"Is this all we're doing?" I ask, eating my fruit salad.

"No, of course not, you're an adult now. We're going to do adult things." Urbosa declares.

"Adult things?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Nothing too bad, but you are having a drink."

"That sounds like a terrible idea."

"Why?" She whines.

"Aren't you supposed to keep me out of trouble?"

"No, I'm not your parent." She pointedly takes a bite of food.

"By Zora law, Mipha can't drink." I remind her. Due to Zora's long life-cycle, their laws regarding alcohol have to be different than the rest of ours.

"She's here to make sure we don't get into any trouble." I see Link cringe in my peripheral vision. This is going to be a long night.


	2. Gerudo Alcohol

**AN:**

 **So, I have decided that I might as well respond to your comments, I don't really have anything else to say, so… I say "so" too much.**

 **Ichigomatsudai: Thank you! I promise that I am going to go into more detail about what happened between them in the future. I like Mipha as a character, but my Zelink shipping heart does not appreciate her.**

 **Awakening5: Thanks. I decided to jump ahead in time some just so they could grow up some, as I stated in the last story, I am older than 17 and writing some of the things I am considering writing would feel wrong with characters so young. I will look back to the three-year gap at times, fill in bits and pieces, and I may write a one-shot later about a very important event which occurs during that gap. You can assume that their relationship has basically remained stagnant, except they have grown apart some. Zelda is training to be Queen someday, and Link has his own responsibilities now. Time just has not been on their side for their relationship to develop.**

 **Not Nintendo.**

It's evening by now. We spent all day on the plateau, talking and laughing and catching up. Around seven o'clock, they bring out a cake and sing terribly to me. Then the alcohol. "We're going to have to go back to the castle."

"You and Link are, the rest of us can transport back home." URBOSA!

"Oh yay! Two drunk Hylians ride to the castle, one of whom is the future monarch."

"Just shut up and drink." She passes a drink to Revali, who passes it Daruk, who passes it to me, which I pass to Link. When we all have drinks (except Mipha), toasts are made and I take my first drink of alcohol. Oh, it's terrible. My face scrunches up and everyone else laughs.

"It gets better." Link promises me.

"How?" I ask. "It burns."

"That's also just because of the type it is. Wine doesn't burn."

"Why aren't we drinking that?" I ask.

"Because Urbosa doesn't do anything in halves." Revali reminds me.

"She does to a Goron." Daruk informs us.

"No one can drink as much as you, not even among the Gorons." Revali counters. I manage to swallow a few more gulps. Wait, how often have they all drank together?

"Please tell me there is a way to make this taste better." I gag.

"Yes, drink more." The alcohol already seems to be affecting him.

"How strong is this?"

"Very."

"I don't need this!" I cry. A few minutes later, I have changed my mind. I feel light and airy. I giggle a lot.

"This is going to be interesting." Revali looks over at me.

"She's going to hate you tomorrow." Daruk looks at Urbosa.

"Maybe, but maybe not." She takes another swig from the bottle. I begin staring at the handsome man next to me. His hair is beginning to fall out of his ponytail. He looks over at me. I smile slightly, and he smiles back. Goddesses, he's perfect. His blue eyes threaten to drown me.

-oOo-

Being drunk is kind of fun. Currently Link and I are riding back to the castle. He decided that it was probably not a great idea to let me ride a horse by myself, so I'm sitting behind him. We gave the stable instructions to return my horse to the castle.

Not that I'm complaining. I have an excuse to hold tightly to a handsome, young man. I have no complaints. Though I will in the morning. We're almost to the castle, and he tells me as much. "I'm tired."

"I know, we'll be there soon." He promises.

A few more silent minutes of riding brings us to the castle. We get off and he leads me towards my bedroom. The alcohol I drank is getting more potent the longer it's in my system and I have to lean on him rather heavily. He's trying to make it look like I'm not real drunk, like we're just tipsy and having fun, but eventually, my legs give out. Why must alcohol do this? He picks me up and ends up carrying me to my bedroom, being careful to avoid where all of the royal guards are. "I don't know if I should be grateful that we've been able to avoid them, or if I need to up security."

"Why not both?" I slur.

"You're going to hate yourself and everyone else tomorrow."

"Probably, but right now I just kind of…"

"Kind of what?"

"Kind of want to kiss you." He stops dead in his tracks.

"You're drunk."

"I've wanted to kiss you for a long time, like four years."

"How about you think this over when you're sober, and we can discuss this later?"

"Are you going to stop avoiding me?"

"I don't avoid you."

"When was the last time you spoke to me other than today or a greeting in passing?"

"It isn't appropriate for us to have a personal relationship anymore." He stays strong as he continues to sneak his way to my room.

"It could be."

"Last time someone suggested anything like that to you, you wanted to kill them."

"Have you thought that I reacted that way because I wanted someone else? Wanted you?"

"You really are going to hate yourself tomorrow." He shakes his head. I kiss his cheek. "Princess."

"Lord." I leave my arms wrapped around his neck.

We're at my room. "Are you fine from here?"

"I think so." He places me down on the ground and makes sure I'm steady.

He smiles, despite everything. "I hope that you've enjoyed your birthday."

"I have, thank you." I smile, too.

"Well, goodnight." I grab onto his face and kiss him sloppily and quickly.

"Goodnight." I run backwards into my bedroom and shut the door before he can react. Hylia, I hope I remember that.

 **AN:**

 **There y'all go! Drunk kisses!**


	3. Where Do We Go From Here?

**AN:**

 **ichigomatsudai: You're right. Though I've never drank, I know people do stupid things sometimes when they do.**

 **TheOnePotatoToRuleThemAll: Debauchery! Debauchery! Debauchery! I can't believe that word was used in an episode of Spongebob. If I was any good at drawing, I would draw that and make it the cover.**

 **Neo Aguni: Don't worry, I'm going to update pretty regularly. I want to get this entire thing published before I go back to school, and have it all written already. It's also over 30,000 words long, and I'm not sure how many chapters. I will probably end up posting a chapter every day.**

 **Not Nintendo.**

I wake up the next day to a splitting headache and an elixir being shoved in my face. "Drink."

I do as the voice commands and down the red liquid. She quickly takes another bottle filled with green liquid and hands it to me. I drink this one as well. "Good morning."

"It's almost noon, your majesty." Hannah, my handmaiden, informs me.

"Noon?" I panic. "Why did anyone let me sleep this long?" I try to hop out of bed, but immediately regret it.

"Because your father knew what Lady Urbosa was planning yesterday and was well aware of the hangover you would have."

"Aren't those elixirs supposed to fix me?"

"They take a little time to kick in." She helps me carefully stand up. "So, do you want to tell me why Lord Link was seen staggering away from this wing last night?"

Oh shit, that actually happened. "I was drunk, and he wanted to make sure I made it to my room alright."

"He came by earlier, asking how you were doing. He's the one who gave me the heart and stamina elixirs." Of course, he was.

"I need to speak with him today."

"Not dressed like that." I'm only in my underclothes, I didn't even bother to put on a nightdress last night.

"Then I will get dressed and go find him." I stand up, she helps me get dressed and I set off to find the blue-eyed marquess.

-oOo-

I decide to check the training yard. He still personally teaches the guards even though there is no requirement for him to do so. A small bridge overlooks the field, where several young guards all rush in on one man in the center. I've come to the right place. The bridge is not very high, so that officers and royals can watch the progress of their knights.

"You have to be faster than that!" Link yells. He's always so quiet, but when he's commanding his men he has the power of a king behind his voice. "If anyone manages to get into the castle, they have to be sneaky and quick. They have to be skilled. You won't be able to defeat them by being slow and taking your time."

I finally get close enough to get a good look at the men. Most of these guards have been around for a little while, Rito, Zora, Goron, Gerudo, Sheikah, and Hylian alike all cower in fear of a man I know would never hurt any of them.

"Your highness." Link bows. Everyone on the field turns and kneels to me.

"Rise! I did not mean to interrupt. I was just taking a walk and thought that I may watch for a while." I call back. But, with everyone else kneeling, I finally get a good look at him. He's sweating and shirtless, with a blunt sword in his hand and his hair pulled back higher than normal.

Goddesses give me strength. They continue with their training. Groups of three or four at a time would rush their commander. Each time he would deflect every blow. Eventually, he releases them all for the day and disappears into his personal office. I slowly follow, making sure he has time to redress. I knock softly on the door. "Come in!"

I enter and see his office for the first time in years. It's a clean, well-organized place. The symbol of the kingdom painted on one wall, with the triforce of courage outlined darker than the other two. That was an addition especially for him. "Good day."

"Good day, princess." He says from his desk. "And how are you feeling? You really shouldn't have been in the sun that long."

"Better, thanks to those elixirs you brought me. Thank you."

"I knew that your hangover was going to be awful, and I have noticed that heart and stamina elixirs really help."

"You drink that much?"

"No, but it's very common for the guards to. I generally have several bottles of each on standby."

"Makes sense." I agree. We stay in awkward silence for a minute. I am required to leave the door open, otherwise one may assume that something inappropriate is happening. "Though I do believe that in training you have an unfair advantage, and there is no way any of your men would be able to land a blow on you."

"I don't expect them to beat me. But, I know that I won't get hurt when four of them charge me. I don't have that guarantee with anyone else." He suddenly gets up. "Sorry, my manners are still atrocious as Lady Impa has reminded me daily. Sit, do you want some tea?" He nods towards the seat opposite his.

"Yes please." I agree and sit in the comfortable chair.

"Do you still just take honey?" He remembers.

"Yes." He places a steaming glass in front of me, thankfully it is Winter, so drinking hot tea at noon is not insane. I look around his office while the tea seeps. His Hylian shield hangs above his desk, with the scabbard from the Master Sword just below. He decided not long after the ball after my 17th birthday to return it. He claimed that there was no point in him holding onto it except for selfish reasons. I was present for that moment, deep in the forest. That was the last time we were truly alone with no threat of guards or anyone else finding us. That is, if you don't count the giant, sentient tree and all of his children. "Lord Link."

"Why do you call me that?"

"Because it isn't appropriate for us to have a personal relationship anymore." I echo his words from yesterday.

"You remember."

"Were you hoping that I wouldn't?"

"A little bit, because now we actually have to discuss this." He sits on the other side of the desk with his own glass of tea, the kettle between us.

We drink silently for a while, until all that is left of my cup is the dregs at the bottom. "I came to apologize for last night. I acted inappropriately and made you uncomfortable."

"Did you mean it?" He looks up from his cup to me. "Did you mean everything you said?"

"And if I did? Then what?"

"Then I would have to inform you that the feeling is mutual."

"Then why were you hoping that I would forget!" I laugh.

"I was worried that it was just the alcohol talking, that you didn't actually mean any of it. I didn't want to get my hopes up." He downs his last bit of tea before moving to refill my cup and then his own. "So, where do we go from here?"

"That depends. If you wish to, you may begin courting me, though you must get approval from the council and especially my father to do so."

"Do I meet all of your standards for a great Hylian warrior?" He teases.

"You are my standards for a great Hylian warrior." I roll my eyes.

"I will never forget his face when you began to insult his son. I'll also never forget the fact that he decided the best way to get what he wanted was to insult you to your face."

"Getting his approval will be hard, but thankfully majority rules." I sip on the tea. "That is, if courting me is what you want to do."

He gets up and walks around the desk, until he stands in front of me. I place my teacup down and stand up, looking him in the eye. "Princess Zelda Minerva Hyrule, will you allow me to court you?"

"Lord Link Allard Cavaleiro, nothing would make me happier." He grins broadly and hugs me. I wrap my arms around his neck and stand slightly on my toes, while he leans down. When he pulls back and looks me in the eye, I place my hand on his cheek, stand on my toes, and kiss him.

This time we taste like tea and honey instead of alcohol and cake. I also do not run away after two seconds. It's better than last night, but we still clearly don't know what we're doing. We just kind of stand there for a few second with our lips pressed together before pulling apart. As inexperienced as we are, we're still happy. We grin at each other from ear to ear. "We probably should go speak to your father."

"Probably." I sigh and start to back away from him. Except, he pulls me close once again and kisses me.

A slight knock sounds from the door, and it begins to swing open some more. "Lord Link I had a few questions about-"

We've jumped apart by this point, leaving a respectable distance between us, but my being here is still enough to stop the young Sheikah in his tracks.

"Oh, Princess Zelda." He almost falls down from attempting to kneel too quickly.

"Rise, please." He does as he's told.

"What's wrong?" Link asks.

"I just had a question about your order request form. I can't tell the difference between your ones and your sevens."

"Your handwriting still needs to improve." I inform the marquess.

"Sorry for only learning about three years ago, when I was already an adult." He takes the paper from the boy and looks it over. He reads each number aloud and the boy makes note of it. "Anything else?"

"No, sir, that is all." The boy bows to me once again and quickly quits the room.

"To my father?"

"To your father."

-oOo-

"Come in!" Father yells from the other side of the door. Link and I enter, making sure to keep distance between us. "Oh, Zelda, how are you feeling?"

"Thanks to a couple of elixirs I am fine, though I am sure that I will never drink any Gerudo alcohol ever again."

"That's understandable, that stuff is too strong for even me." He puts down his quill and blows on whatever it is he's been writing to dry the ink. "So, what brings you two here? Together?"

"Your majesty, I would like to request your permission to court your daughter." Link steps forward.

"It certainly took you long enough." What?

"I'm sorry?" Link says, just as confused as I am.

"Why do you think I gave you the title of marquess in the first place? If I just wanted to honor you for your actions against Calamity Ganon, I would have made you a general." Father stands and walks around his large, mahogany desk. "You have my permission. I will call for an emergency council meeting tomorrow so that you may receive their approval."

"Really?" I smile.

"Really." I throw my arms around my father's neck and thank him profusely. "Zelda! We must contain ourselves."

"Sorry father."

"Do not be, I am happy for you both." He turns to Link. "You are a fine young man, you have proven yourself to be worthy of my daughter a thousand times over. I cannot think of a more fitting partner for her." He grasps Link's arm and places his hand on his shoulder. "But do realize, that if I am wrong and you hurt her, you will be dead before the sun sets."

"I understand, your majesty."

"And you understand where courting ultimately leads?"

"Yes, your majesty."

"Good." Father's tone brightens once again. "Now you two go somewhere else. I am very busy today."

 **AN:**

 **I probably should have written more buildup to their courting, but I'm a sucker for fluff and denied you guys in the last story.**


	4. The Council

**AN:**

 **Hey babes! Another chapter is here!**

 **Ichigomatsudai: Thanks dude.**

 **Guest: Thank you! And, you could say Zelda is graced with liquid courage.**

 **I am still not Nintendo.**

In about twenty minutes, we'll learn whether or not Link is allowed to court me. Currently the two of us are waiting in the meeting room, no one else has arrived yet, not even my father. "You haven't made too many enemies on the council, have you?"

"No, but I'm sure that I will after this." He's right, almost every council member has a son or grandson or nephew that they want me to marry. "Is everyone coming?"

"Every member of the council's presence was requested. Seeing at this is a vote of some importance they will have been told as much and be expected to come."

"Do they know what they're voting on?"

"No. My father decided that it may be best if they come into this blind."

"Is Mipha coming?"

"She is a member of my father's council, she should. As should all of the champions. Especially since we are going to require the blessing of each race once we-if we get engaged. They will have to decide amongst their own races by whatever means they do things, it is not just the representative who has a say then."

"I don't know how she's going to react."

"Neither do I." I shake my head and give his hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Do you think many people will vote against it?"

"Duke Narkell probably will. But we won't be here for the voting, they'll send us away and call us back once a decision has been made. That way no one is pressured to vote for us based off of our presence, and we can't be angry at specific people for voting against it."

"Urbosa is going to have a field day."

"She's done everything in her power to get this to happen."

"Considering that I did eventually actually learn what the elska is? Yeah."

"How did you find out?"

"You remember that guard that I fired? The one who went into a rampage and had to be carried away?" What a sight to see that was. This large Hylian man was dragged out of the castle by a Gerudo and Sheikah. The two draggers didn't even break a sweat despite it being the middle of Summer.

"Yes."

"You know the official reason for his dismissal was inappropriate behavior." I nod. "Well, that is true, kind of, but the real reason I fired him was because of a joke he made." I cock my head to the side, what does this have to do with the elska? "It was one of those days that you stopped by with Lady Impa and watched their training for a while."

"She watched their training, I watched you." I admit. He grins slightly, but becomes serious very quickly.

"Well, after we acknowledged you and everything, I heard him say, 'You know, I'd like to perform the elska with the princess and everything that comes after.' My reaction was immediate and probably too emotional. Well, you saw what happened." I had, he marched over to the man, demanded his sword and shield, cut the buttons off of his doublet, and ordered two female guards to take him out of the castle. The cutting of the buttons symbolizes the disgrace of a soldier. The man knew as much and started yelling and cussing at Link as he was dragged away. "I asked for the women to carry him off because he had an issue with believing that the women shouldn't be guards because 'they're the weaker sex'."

"I wondered what finally set you off. If it had just been inappropriate behavior, it wouldn't have been so sudden."

"As I told you and Lady Impa then, he had been saying and doing things for a while, but that day he just went too far. I only kept him around that long because he was good at his job. He was a very good guard, but that doesn't mean he was a good person." When Impa had demanded he relay what the man had said, Link refused, saying that my father would kill him for saying it in my presence.

"But how did you find out what exactly the elska is from that?"

"When Lady Impa sent you away and had me tell her what he said, she explained it to me. I informed her that I knew it was a dance performed at weddings, and she specified it from there."

"I'm sorry that I hadn't told you the truth."

"How could you have? 'Here, you're going to learn a dance that will be performed at my wedding and my wedding alone.' Yes, I would have taken that very well."

"That was Urbosa's idea, I swear."

"I believe you, obviously it was, she was there to make sure that it happened." The doors finally open, and council members begin flooding in. They all mingle and discuss things, despite seeing each other only two days ago. Link and I drop our joined hands and try to make it less obvious.

"What's this emergency meeting about?" Daruk asks. "The message said that I had to come, but why? I don't normally have to."

"It's nothing bad, I promise. There just needs to be an important vote, and we needed the approval of each of the races." I explain.

"What were you two doing here all by yourselves?" Urbosa smirks.

"Yesterday she came by the training grounds and had a few questions for me, but I was too busy to answer them then." He explains.

"Like?" If birds could smirk, Revali would be.

"Like how in Hylia's name to get rid of that stupid migraine I had thanks to all of you." Urbosa laughs heartily.

"I am sorry, little vai, but you did somewhat do it to yourself."

"You were the one who brou-" The noise in the room suddenly ceases as my father enters. Everyone bows slightly, bar myself, and takes their seats. Except, instead of sitting in his usual seat, Link sits next to me, a seat usually reserved for guests.

"I am sorry for the suddenness of this meeting and it only being two days after the last one, but this is a matter of some importance." Father remains standing at the head of the table. "Lord Link has asked permission to court my daughter. I have given my consent, and they now request yours." Someone, makes some sort of noise. "Before you say anything, I will ask them to leave now." Link and I quickly get up and I lead him into the small room next to the council room made specifically for this reason. The walls are soundproof so we can't hear anything.

"How long should this take?"

"That depends on how many of them are against it and fight back. Everyone is given their chance to say what they believe."

"So, we just wait here until someone comes to tell us that it's over?"

"No. We go over here." I walk towards the wall shared with the council room. A small hatch breaks the soundproof wall. "This was put here by some royal long ago who wanted to listen in on council meetings and debates. The other side is some material that sound travels through easily, but looks just like the rest of the wall. Once I raise this, we're going to have to remain completely silent. As long as we can hear them, they can hear us." I raise the hidden door and look through. Whatever this Sheikah material is, it's incredible. We can see right through it, but no one else is aware of it.

"Two days ago, she insulted my family when I brought up courting." Oh, Duke Narkell. "Yet as soon as some peasant asks to court her she's all for it."

"Lord Link is a marquess and the Hero of Hyrule. He has more than earned the right to court the princess." Urbosa argues.

"You just want your pet to be happy. You want to spoil this girl while having no concern for what her wishes will do to this country."

"And what benefits does your son bring to Hyrule as prince consort which Lord Link does not?" Impa asks.

"Our family has been of noble blood for generations. We have experience, money, social standing."

"As much as it pains me to admit, last time I checked, the estate of the Cavaleiro family was the most productive in the kingdom. His parents have had much success in farming their land, and Lord Link himself has been training and leading the royal guards. The royal guards who, may I remind you, are protecting your life at this moment." Wow, Revali actually being on Link's side for once.

"As for experience, the little guy defeated Calamity Ganon. None of you or your relatives can claim that." Daruk chimes in.

"And for social standing, he has been a marquess for only three years, yet is one of the most popular in the kingdom. The guards all respect him not because of his nobility, but because he earned it. His family has been good friends of the Zora people for generations. His father was one of the best knights we ever had before he decided to settle down and have children. The Cavaleiro estate workers are paid with food, shelter, and money, unlike most estates which only provide them with at most two of these things and it is never in as abundant of quantities or quality. The reason their estate is so successful is because their people want to be there. No other estate in the kingdom can claim that every single one of their workers is payed." Thank you, father. Though slavery is illegal in Hyrule, that has not stopped many Nobles from treating their workers like them, and there is not much we can do to stop them. The ones who can change the laws are the ones who would be hurt the most by it.

"How do we know that he is of pure, Hylian blood?"

"No one is pure Hylian anymore, not even yourself. The purest in the world is my daughter's bloodline. The bloodline of the goddess, Hylia. Even then there is plenty of impurity. Link's predecessors as the wielder of the Master Sword, for example."

"But he is less pure than any of us."

"His ears are pointed and actually longer than yours I believe." Another council member points out. They made Duke Narkell shut up, so they're my new favorite.

"Does anyone else have anything to say which has not already been covered?" I see some movement. "Yes?"

"As impressive as the boy is, he is not trained to be royal. Since he will eventually be expected to help Princess Zelda once she becomes queen, the fact that he knows nothing of politics is very concerning." I don't recognize the voice, well I do, but I can't place it. There are many council members who hardly ever speak.

"Lord Link is not naïve. Though he may not have had the classes and teachings most nobles have had, he is smart and picks up on things easily. I am sure that if we begin now, he will be prepared to rule alongside the princess." Impa replies.

"Anyone else have anything to say?" Nothing. "Then we vote." Quietly, each council member writes down their vote on a sheet of paper and a bowl is passed around in an attempt to keep the voting itself anonymous. The bowl eventually ends up with Impa, who silently reads and counts the votes.

As she hands my father the final tally, I lower the door, and we go sit on the couch. "The suspense is killing me."

"I know." I agree and squeeze his hand. "Me, too." He leans over and kisses my cheek. "Thank Hylia for your ears." He laughs quietly. "Whoever said that deserves all of the thanks in the world."


	5. Congratulations

**AN:**

 **Hi! So, you may have noticed that my replying to reviews is kind of off from when they are written. But, I forgot about moderating guest reviews and that's why.**

 **Ichigomatsudai: Everyone's gotta grow up at some point, even Revali. You'll hear what Mipha thinks later. I decided that the Cavaleiro family would probably be more generous and better bosses than the other nobles due to them knowing what it's like to be those workers. The different races confuse me in Zelda, like the Gerudo, there are no real true Gerudo since there are no males, and they go and have children with men of other races. Like there should be no Gerudo left. I don't know, but Duke Narkell is like a Malfoy who thinks lower of "people of lesser blood".**

 **D: I am.**

 **Guest who reviewed chapter 3: Thank you! I wanted to make things a bit more realistic, so bringing social protocol into the equation seemed like the right choice. I wanted Mipha to be more complex than just the sweet, quiet girl. Everyone holds grudges, no matter how kind they are. If someone you loved refused your proposal and fell in love with someone you considered your friend, you'd probably be angry.**

 **Guest who reviewed chapter 4: Thank you!**

 **I am still not Nintendo.**

The guards outside open the doors, and we rejoin the council. "Congratulations!"

I smile so broadly that I feel like my face may break. I throw my arms around Link's neck and hug him tightly.

"Council dismissed." Father announces, and I release my marquess. A majority of the council filters out of the room, leaving only the champions, Impa, and my father. Except Mipha. She's gone.

"What was the final count?"

"Twenty-eight to two." Two.

"Well, we know who one of them was." Urbosa laughs. "Duke Narkell is a stubborn man."

"I think that we may know two." Link admits.

We all remain silent, as we all know very well who the second one is.

"It does not matter! Another council member did voice concerns, we don't know who it was. No, what matters is you two lying to us!" Urbosa scolds.

"We couldn't tell you in front of everyone else." I argue.

"But you could have told me earlier!" She cries. "You have to tell me everything."

"Not now, please not now. Let me leave first." Father!

"Nothing bad happened!" Lies.

"Yes, but I don't like the idea of my little girl growing up, and something you will say will upset me."

"Father." I sigh.

"I am very happy for you both, though I do hope you realize that any outings you two have are going to be chaperoned."

"We are aware, father."

"I don't really care who chaperones, clearly you don't need protection, but you can't go off alone. Think of how Duke Narkell would react to that." No. No. I do not want to. "And Link, I fear that you will not be able to train the guards yourself as much anymore. With this comes the possibility of you ruling beside Zelda, you are going to have to take many classes to prepare yourself."

"We are not yet engaged!" I argue.

"It's better to start early, less stress when planning the wedding." Please do not scare him off!

"Father!"

"Lord Link, have you informed your family?"

"I have not, I wanted to make sure we had the council's approval first."

"I will send a message to them."

"I can do it, they are my parents after all. They would kill me if they found out through someone else."

"Yes, like how I found out about those 'secret' dance lessons through a guard." I never knew that he found out about those. He chuckles at my shocked face and leaves. "I hope four chaperones will be enough." The door shuts behind him. I am completely mortified.

"Now tell us what happened." Urbosa pulls a chair out from beneath the table and stares at us, like a child waiting for a bedtime story.

"Yeah, I want to hear how this happened all of the sudden." Daruk agrees, sitting on the ground since his special chair is too far away.

"I guess to an extent it's thanks to you." I admit as Link pulls out a chair for me, and I sit down. "Had you not gotten me drunk, none of this would have happened."

"You got her drunk?!" Impa yells.

"She's twenty! It's legal!"

"It's terrible for her health!"

"She didn't drink that much, she just doesn't have any tolerance for it yet." Urbosa waves Impa's complaints.

"And trust me it's never happening again. That was awful." I remember the splitting headache, and the lack of ability to walk in a straight line. By now everyone has taken a seat around the head of the table. Though my father's seat remains empty.

"Oh, that doesn't matter, tell us how it happened!"

"When he was walking me back to my room, I drunkenly admitted my feelings for him."

"That's an awful fairy tale!" Revali laughs. "What a story to pass down the ages!"

"We didn't begin courting then!" Link announces, mortified.

"No, the next day I went down to the training yards to thank him for some elixirs he brought me for the hangover. He asked me if I remembered anything and I admitted that I did." I lie, but just slightly. "He then asked if I meant what I said the night before. I asked what it would mean if I did. He replied that he would have to inform me that the feeling was mutual."

"We were sitting in my office at my desk," he sees Impa's sharp glare, "with the door open, I swear. So, I got up, walked around the desk, and asked for her permission to court her."

"I replied that nothing would make me happier." I smile. "Then a young man came in with some questions for Link. Once that was over we went to my father."

"Well it sure took long enough. I have been working towards this for years."

"We know." Link and I say at the same time.

"As you said, you have me and my Gerudo alcohol to thank."

 **AN:**

 **I decided that I wanted a bit more atypical start to their courtship. I also decided that there was no way Zelda was going to admit everything that actually happened to Disapproving Mom Impa™.**


	6. The Date

**AN:**

 **Thank you, Urbosa.**

 **Ichigomatsudai: Wait and see.**

 **I am not Nintendo.**

"Now spill, what actually happened?" Urbosa says once the door to my room closes.

"I told the truth, do you think I would have admitted to drunkenly proclaiming my feelings for him had it not been true?"

"You left a lot out." She plops down on my vanity chair. "You can't keep anything from me."

"I know." I sit on the edge of my bed. "He ended up carrying me to my room because of how strong the alcohol was. I did admit that I wanted him, but he told me to think it over once I was sober and we would talk about it then. When we reached my room and he put me down…I kissed him and ran in here, shutting the door before he could react."

"Your first kiss was drunk!" Urbosa laughs. "I expected the alcohol to do something, but that's not it!"

"Debatably, that was not my first kiss. Anyways, the next day I went and watched them train for a while, I didn't want to interrupt their lesson."

"Them train or him train? Also, no there is no debate, those tournament ones don't count."

"Him of course." I scoff.

"I've seen him train, I've fought him, it is something to see. Especially since he normally ends up doing it half-naked. Fighting that much must make him really hot." Her pronged eyebrows wiggle at me.

"SHUT UP!" I yell.

"Was he yesterday?"

"Maybe. He was clothed when everything happened." She laughs. "Anyways, after they finished I went down to his office. When he told me to come in he was fully dressed. He made me some tea and admitted that he kind of hoped I had forgotten the night before because he didn't want to discuss it. Everything else is the same after that."

"Except."

"Except I kissed him once." She raises an eyebrow. " _I_ only kissed _him_ once. The second time, _he_ kissed _me_."

"How sweet. The drunk princess confesses her love of her knight! Revali's right, that is a terrible fairy tale."

"Please stop."

"I kid because I care." She stands up and places a hand on my shoulder. "I am happy for you, little vai. You should be very happy."

"I will be."

"You especially will be once you aren't required to have a chaperone."

"That won't be until we're married."

"Do you think that that is where this is heading?"

"Where else would it lead to?" I ask.

"A broken heart."

"Speaking of…Mipha."

"I don't know what she voted." Urbosa admits. "She wrote hers down before we even finished debating."

"Whatever her mind was, it was made up."

"It doesn't matter. We'll never know unless she decides to tell us. What matters is that you and Link get to be together and be happy."

Someone knocks on the door.

"Come in." I call. The door opens, and my marquess sticks his head in.

"And there he is!" Urbosa smiles.

"Hello."

"What do you need?" She asks.

"I was going to ask if Zelda would like to go to Castle Town for a while."

"Do you need a chaperone?"

"Sadly."

"I will be the best chaperone you two could ever ask for." Urbosa gets up and pulls me up behind her. Link offers me his arm, and Urbosa follows around ten feet behind us.

"Your father said that we should go make some public appearances, let the people know what's going on. Apparently, some of them are worried that you're not courting yet."

"Ah. I did wonder at the suddenness. Normally, he would wait around a week before letting the public know of something. I did wait longer than most. Most princesses are courting by the time they're twenty, just not married of course."

"What did she mean by 'best chaperone we could ask for'?"

"I am quite sure that it means she will be the worst chaperone my father could ask for."

"Correct." Urbosa calls from behind.

-oOo-

We eventually walk to Castle Town. It's still early in the day, so the market is open. A Gerudo woman is selling gaudy jewelry with her young daughter on her hip. A Rito is selling a variety of arrows. A Sheikah man has his paintings for sale.

It is rather enjoyable. They all kneel or bow slightly as we pass. I smile to everyone and hold tightly to his arm. We have already lost Urbosa.

We walk past a mask stand, which is covered in terrifying faces. A perfume seller we have to practically sprint past because the smell is stifling. At one-point Link buys us apple tarts from a vendor who tried to refuse payment. We find a place to sit down and enjoy our treats.

"So." I say.

"So."

"This is odd."

"That it is." He agrees. I hear a giggle and turn to look at that same group of teenage girls.

"Though it looks like I may have to fight off other girls."

"You could take them."

"I'm sure." Those girls are barely fifteen by the looks of them.

"How long are we expected to court for?"

"Since this is not a relationship based off of a treaty, which requires no courting time, at least four months."

"And then?"

"Then engagement for however long it is until the next Day of Falling Stars." I take a bite of tart. "You are sure you wish to do this? Courting me is basically an engagement, I'm not like other girls who you can court for a little while and then think better of it."

"I've wanted to be with you for the past four years, I've had plenty of time to think it over." He smiles. "If courting is basically an engagement, then why call it courting?"

"Tradition for tradition's sake."

"How odd."

"I'm quite sure that the wedding planning will begin soon." I lament. "Royal weddings are huge and require a lot of thought."

"So, I should be expecting another fitting soon?"

"Oh, most definitely." I nod. "May I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"When did you realize your feelings for me? You've been very proper all these years, I couldn't really tell." I take another bite and cover my mouth slightly as I chew. "If it's too private to admit here, I understand."

"No, no, it's fine. I don't really know when it began." He sets down his empty napkin. "I knew when I first became your knight that I wanted to protect you, not that I _had_ to, but that I _wanted_ to. I had just assumed that it was part of my oath and duty to the Master Sword, residual feelings of concern from the previous wielders for their princesses. I didn't dare admit that I liked you to myself until that day you just sat me down and walked me through your research because you decided that you wanted my opinion on something that I didn't understand. You were so excited about it and so happy to explain it to me. But I didn't realize I liked you as any more than a friend until that night when we were travelling back from the Spring of Power and had to stop to set up camp. That night where we hardly got any sleep because we just stayed up and talked."

"I realized that I liked you when you saved me from those yiga assassins in the desert."

"I figured that out already. You started treating me significantly better after that."

"I was naïve before then. I took out so much anger on you, and all you were doing was your job. But, seeing you jump in front of me with so little regard for your own safety…it changed something within me." I have finished my tart now and crumble up the paper it was on. "I knew that I liked you as more than a friend…I don't actually know when. I knew by the time the Calamity happened, but it happened so gradually. Urbosa is the only person I ever admitted to, though my handmaiden, Hannah, I believe had figured it out."

"I admitted to Ryell." Ryell was one of his fellow knights those years ago; now he's one of the head royal guards. "It was after the ball, he had been there as a guard and was making fun of me about how good of a dancer I was. I told him what happened, and he wouldn't shut up until I admitted that I liked you. I also have a question for you. During the debate, your father mentioned impurity in your bloodline and listed the sword's previous wielders as an example." I hoped he wouldn't want to talk about this.

"You know the story of the Hero of the Sky, correct?" He nods. "The first Link and Zelda. That Zelda was not a princess, there was no kingdom. She was a headmaster's daughter, and that Link was a student at the school. They grew up together and eventually began to love each other. After the people of the sky settled on the surface, it was decided that Zelda would lead them. She was the Goddess Incarnate, so who better to lead the people in this strange place. When she and Link became adults, they married and had children. The bloodline of the first Link and Zelda has never been broken and still rules over Hyrule to this day."

"That's kind of weird."

"What?"

"That you are, in a sense, your own descendent."

" _Our_ own descendent. Repeatedly. As time went on, and our spirits returned to this world, it kept happening. The Hero and the Princess would meet, destroy the evil, marry, have children, etc. Eventually it just became expected. While it has never been law, it might as well have been. The princess would always be turned into almost a prize for the hero." One of the main reasons I hated him so much. Never mind the jealousy, the fact that I was going to be presented to him as a reward made my blood boil.

"Were they unhappy?"

"Not that I am aware of, but stories are a fickle thing. No one is going to write about how much they loathed each other, no. They're going to write great, sweeping romances to tell as stories to children." He breaks eye contact with me, staring at his hands.

"Did you…did you feel obligated to accept me because of this?"

"No, no, I agreed to your request to court me because I want to be with you, not some tradition that only a handful of people know." I pull his chin up so he's looking me in the eye. "Besides, we both know that I am no good at following tradition."

"If it was expected for us to wed, why did no one ever tell me? I feel as though that's something I should have known about."

"Well, I had hoped that it would not have been acknowledged. By the time I actually began to have feelings for you, well, Mipha still existed. I did not know how you felt about her and was not going to stand in the way of your happiness because I had an almost law. I don't know, maybe if we had taken longer to begin courting, someone might have brought it up, but…" I didn't want to wait. I didn't want to wait as long as I had. Now that I can legally marry, I wanted to do it. I wanted to do it with you.

-oOo-

Once it is almost dark out, Link, Urbosa, and I return to the castle. Link is allowed to walk me to my door, but not enter. Urbosa turns her back to us and watches at the end of the hallway for anyone who might interrupt us.

"I enjoyed today."

"As did I." He grins. We stand in silence for a few moments before we both decide to kiss goodnight. I stand on my toes slightly, and he leans over. His arms wrap around my waist, and my hands cup his face. We pull back slightly and turn our heads before pressing our lips together once more. We're still _very_ inexperienced, so there is a fair bit of awkwardness. We bump noses twice, we don't know when to take breaths, so we pant slightly. Despite the mishaps, I do enjoy it. We'll get better at it the more we um…practice.

We do this for some length of time, and then Urbosa tells us, "Knock it off and go to bed. WAIT, NOT THAT BED. I have to be a decent chaperone or your father won't let me do it anymore."

We both laugh, still holding each other. He presses his forehead and nose to mine. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." I kiss him again lightly before backing into my room, smiling tiredly at him before I close the door.

 **AN:**

 **They went on a date! Also, I'm sure I diverged from the canon here. I only own two Zelda games,** ** _Skyward Sword_** **and** ** _Breath of the Wild_** **, and there is no way I am ever going to learn all of the Zelda lore and how it all fits together. SO, if I messed up, sorry, I just didn't know. Also, I'm a hopeless Zelink shipper, so…**


	7. Journey Home

**AN:**

 **Guest: Thank you. I know that** ** _Skyward Sword_** **has problems, though I do find everyone getting excited over Fi in BOTW hilarious, but I love that game. It was my first Zelda game, and I am happy that I played it. Its story is good, and the characters are all fun. I try to think through these things logically, obviously BOTW Zelda is supposed to be a descendant of Hylia and SS Zelda is Hylia in human form, so being her own descendent makes sense. And, actually the tradition of the princess and hero marrying was going to be a plot point in my canceled story,** ** _What the Future Holds_** **. I kind of liked the idea and it gave Zelda another reason to dislike Link at first, so I decided to keep it.**

 **Kersplunk: I have no clue, no one really knows, people claim to, but they're liars as far as I can tell. I just know in** ** _Skyward Sword_** **, Demise is like "and you are cursed forever and I will always come back and we will fight again and blah blah blah, fire hair."**

 **Ichigomatsudai: It did happen before Link's telling his family, directly after the meeting. You'll learn more about his family in this chapter.**

 **Guest who reviewed chapter 5: You'll see.**

 **Guest who reviewed chapter 6: Maybe he will.**

 **Still not Nintendo.**

 _Dear father, mother, and Alisse,_

 _I am sorry that it has been some time since my last letter._ _I have been rather busy and regretfully have not had time to write._

 _I am glad to hear that everything is going well and hope to visit soon. I have become confident in Ryell and Aron's abilities to lead and train the guards in my absence. Which means that I should be able to visit more often now._

 _I have some news that is rather important to tell you._

 _I have been permitted to court Princess Zelda._

 _On her birthday, the other champions and I took her on a picnic to the Great Plateau. The next day, she came to speak with me in my office. There, we had a discussion and admitted that we both have had feelings beyond friendship for each other for years. I then requested her consent to my courting her. When she agreed, we went to go speak with the king._

 _We have received the blessing of both her father and the council. We now request yours._

 _We hope to hear from you soon._

 _And yes, Zelda did help me write this letter._

 _Love,_

 _Link_

"Are you sure that you don't want to sign it?"

"I didn't want to help you write it! This is supposed to be a personal letter, not a formal request." I reply, exasperated.

"I didn't want to write it without you. This affects you just as much as it does me."

"Do you think that they might say no?"

"No, they know how I felt about you. My mother nagged me until I confessed." He reads over the letter again.

"I thought you said that only Ryell knew."

"When someone says that no one else knows, that generally does not include their maternal figure."

"You're right." Urbosa was the only one I ever told.

"They already told me that if something were to happen, they would approve of it. But, writing them like this is strange. It's an awkward subject."

-oOo-

It's another week before we receive a reply. His parents whole-heartedly give us their blessing and invite us both to come visit. Of course, we cannot visit alone. So, father has asked two knights to accompany us, with strict directions to make sure that we don't leave their line of sight unless they're sure that someone else is accompanying us.

It's been a few days since we received the letter and leave today. Actually, we've already left.

"This should only take two days. There's a stable almost exactly midway, so we'll stop there tonight." Link has been planning our journey while I still had lessons.

"That sounds good to me."

"As long as nothing bad happens, this should be an easy trip."

"What are we going to do once we arrive?" I ask.

"I have no clue, whatever my family wants us to."

"I do hope that it doesn't rain." Light gray clouds shade us from the sun.

-oOo-

It didn't rain that day, but it did the next. Plus, we were too close to the estate to warrant stopping another night. We've just arrived and are waiting on someone to answer the door. Great way to make a good impression on your possibly future in-laws, soaking wet and exhausted at ten o'clock at night.

"Oh goodness!" The maid who answers the door replies. "Master Link! Princess Zelda! Are you alright?"

"Yes, just soaked." We enter the house and the knights follow us.

"I'll go find your parents. We thought that with all the rain, you would have stopped for the night."

"We were too close. Besides, there was nowhere to stop." The girl disappears and the four of us are left standing in the middle of the foyer. Eventually, the girl reappears with a stack of towels.

"Lord Allard will be here soon." I wipe off my face and hair, trying to make myself at least a little bit more presentable.

"Princess Zelda, Link." Lord Allard appears from the family wing of the house. "How are you both?"

"We are well, tired, but well." Link replies, still toweling his torso.

"I'm glad you're okay. That storm came rather suddenly. And your knights, they are alright?"

"We are." One of them replies.

"Good. Good. Mallory, will you show these two gentlemen to where they will be staying, provide them with anything they need, please. I will show the princess to her room."

"Yes sir." She curtsies to me before leading the knights away.

"Are either of you hungry?" He begins walking back towards the family wing.

"Yes, we didn't stop for dinner. We wanted to beat the rain." Link keeps a towel around his shoulders like I am, trying to keep our hair from dripping everywhere.

"Good job." I can't see it, but I'm sure he rolled his eyes. "Well, once you're cleaned up, I'm sure that the cook will be more than happy to provide you with something."

"Thank you." I yawn.

"This is it." He stops in front of the room I stayed in last time.

"Again, thank you." I open the door and begin walking inside.

"I'll come get you in half an hour to go get something to eat." Link informs me.

"Sounds good to me." I bid him goodbye, and Lord Allard goodnight, before closing the door. I quickly strip out of my soaking clothes and dress in a simple lavender dress I had packed.

Right at half an hour after he left, Link knocks on my door. "Hi."

"Hi. You look more comfortable." I note. He's dry for the most part, with his hair hanging down around his shoulders.

"So do you. Let' go, I'm starving." He offers me his arm and I take it.

"No chaperone?"

"I won't tell the knights if you don't."

"What if we run into them?"

"They're staying in the opposite side of the building. Also, I asked Mallory, they both ate before they went to their rooms."

"They've already gone to bed?" He nods. "Good. I do not want to deal with that right now."

"You mean you don't enjoy someone staring at your back constantly, walking a few feet behind?"

"It was different when it was you. Though, I did not enjoy it then, either."

We're served a simple curry dish, but I am quite sure that I haven't tasted anything this good in a while. We eat in silence, too consumed with thoughts of food for conversation. Though, I am capable of admiring him some. His hair dries much more quickly than mine, it's not entirely dry yet, but still, I don't get to see him with his hair down often.

His bangs fall around his face, framing his clear blue eyes, and softening his jaw. The back part of his hair has reached the middle of his shoulder blades, and from what I can tell that's where he's going to keep it. "You're staring."

"Is that a bad thing? Is it wrong of me to want to look at a handsome man?" His cheeks turn red, causing me to giggle. "You should wear your hair down more."

"I'm normally training." He reminds me, his face still red. "It doesn't make sense for me to wear my hair down. I have also been informed that it isn't formal enough. For council meetings and any other meetings, I need to wear it in a low ponytail. I don't know why, but I still have to do it."

"You could wear it down for me."

"When?"

"I don't know." I admit.

"I'll try, if that's what you want." I grin broadly at him, it's his turn to laugh now. "Are you done?" I nod. "Okay, it's late. We need to go to sleep."

We thank the cook before returning to family wing. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." He slowly presses his lips to mine. I wrap my hands around his biceps as we kiss. But, I have to pull away and yawn. "Goodnight."

"Sorry." I yawn again. "Goodnight." I quickly kiss him again before entering my room.


	8. Silent Princess

**AN:**

 **Hello lovely peoples! I am not Nintendo.**

 **James Birdsong: Thank you so much!**

 **Ichigomatsudai: Yes, Zelda has been to the estate before.**

"The estate is beautiful." I comment, Link and I are taking a walk around the land. The rain stopped and the sun has dried out the ground. "Your family has done very well with, well everything."

"Thank you." The two knights walk around six feet behind us.

"Link! Princess Zelda!" Alisse calls, running after us.

"What is it?" Link asks.

"I just have something I want to show you." She turns to the knights. "I will watch them."

"Lady Alisse, thank you, but we aren't supposed to leave them alone." One of them says.

"You can't come, though. It's a family thing." She starts panicking. "It's private."

"She can keep an eye on us. She is more than capable."

"Your highness, your father said-"

"To not let us out of your sight unless you're certain that someone else is with us. She is someone else. If it is a personal matter, then you have no place." They cower slightly, but agree to leave us with Alisse. "Now, what is it?"

"Oh, nothing, I just that you were getting annoyed with those two."

"You are my new favorite person." I inform her.

"How about, we go walk in the maze." Link suggests.

"There's a maze?"

"We like puzzles." He shrugs.

"I'll keep an eye out for them." Alisse, you are a treasure.

"You don't have to, as long as you're out of sight, they can assume you're with us." I suggest.

"No, it's fine."

"You're avoiding doing your lessons, aren't you?" Link asks.

"Yes."

-oOo-

Link and I walk through the maze, arm in arm. "Does this maze have a center? Or is it just a start in one side and come out the other?"

"It has a center."

"What's in it?"

"You'll see." He smirks.

"You know the route?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to lead me?"

"No. I want you to figure it out." I walk around in what feels like circles for a few minutes, dragging him along. Right, straight, left…dead end. Eventually, I apparently find the way to the middle. "Stop."

"What?"

"I have something to show you, but first you have to close your eyes." I raise my eyebrows. "It's a surprise." I do as told, and he takes my hands, leading me.

When he stops, I ask, "Can I open them?"

"Alright, now." My hand claps over my mouth. How?

"Oh, my goodness." I cry. "How? Why?"

"Are you happy?"

"Yes! Of course, I am." I look at the flowers surrounding me.

"That's why."

"Then how?"

"A lot of determination. Alisse has been helping me, especially since I'm not normally here."

"It's incredible." I kneel down to look closely at the Silent Princesses in front of me. "We've tried for so long to domesticate them, yet…"

"I don't know, maybe we just got lucky."

"Luck or not, this is incredible. You must have worked at this for years."

"I started trying when we first got the estate, before I was living in the castle again." For a while after his rise to nobility, he lived here with his family. After so long being away and going through so much, it was time he was home. Plus, his family needed his help in setting up the estate. I visited once then, when he went to replace the Master Sword. He came to the castle to get me, and we used the journey to the Lost Forest as an excuse to get me out of the castle for a while.

"Three years of work, for someone you didn't even know wanted to be with you."

"Yes. I knew you'd like it." He wraps his arms around my waist, kneeling behind me.

"You're right." I turn my head to look at him. He kisses my cheek. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He helps me up and kisses me properly. "I actually, have something for you to take back to the castle." He walks to the other side of the center and picks up a small pot with a singular Silent Princess. "I would have given it to you sooner, but I wanted to make sure that it would survive in the pot."

"Thank you." He places the white pot in my hands. "The one I tried to grow died about a year ago. I was able to keep it alive for a while, but in the end, it didn't work out."

"Well, let's hope that this one will survive for a while."

"Where did you get them originally?" Silent Princesses are extremely rare.

"A Great Fairy Fountain. She gave me permission to take a few of hers once I explained what I wanted to do with them."

"Maybe that's why they've survived." I look up from the plant in my hands. "Maybe the Great Fairy's magic is keeping them alive. After all, it is said that the Great Fairy Tera, who resides in the desert, even has a few growing by her fountain."

-oOo-

A few days later, we have to return to the castle. The cook sends us with lunches and bottles of water. The entire household is watching us leave. "Be careful, dear."

"We will, mother." Link assures Lady Sara and hugs her.

"It has been wonderful having you here again, your highness. We hope to see you again soon." The kind woman turns to me.

"Thank you for having me. I hope to see you soon, as well." I smile at the couple and hug their daughter. "You promise to work hard on your lessons, Alisse?"

"I promise."

"Good, this kingdom needs more great minds." I let her go, and Link takes my hand.

"Please write soon!" Lord Allard calls after us.

"I will!" Link replies as he helps me onto my horse.

"Farewell!" I call to everyone and wave. They all wave back, and we start off.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" Link asks once we're out of earshot.

"Yes, your estate is lovely, and everyone is so kind." The knights are with us, we must remain formal, even if it kills us.


	9. A Very Special Anniversary

**AN:**

 **There is a flashback at the end of the chapter, that part is in italics.**

 **Y'all know what I'm not.**

 **Guest: Maybe something like that will happen.**

For the next two months, things remain basically the same. Link will take me on outings (with a chaperone), and they'll generally allow us some privacy as we say goodbye. Revali, Daruk, and Urbosa being our favorites because they normally just leave us alone. However, they are often not here because they have families and responsibilities at home.

But today, I've decided to do something slightly different. Urbosa has come to visit by my request solely for today. And today is a very special day.

I have a picnic packed, and Link and I walk to the Sacred Grounds, Urbosa in tow. "You know what today is?"

"Yes, I do." He smiles.

"Four years ago, to the day you became my appointed knight."

"And only three months later did you finally allow me to do my job." I stick my tongue out at him, and he laughs. "Bit on the nose, aren't you?"

I start spreading out the blanket in the middle of the Sacred Grounds. "Yes, now help me."

"Are you sure there's nothing wrong with this? Like we aren't going to offend the goddesses by having a date here?"

"We just call it the Sacred Grounds because we have ceremonies here. There isn't any actual spiritual value in this exact spot that is any greater than the middle of the field." I start setting out our food. "But, it does have personal value."

"That it does." He agrees, opening up the bottles and paper-wrapped food. We laze around, eating and talking. Urbosa is off somewhere. Once all of the food is gone, Link lays down with his head in my lap while I play with his hair. "I think you like me just because of my hair."

"No, there's plenty of things to like about you." I smile. "None come to mind right now, but they have to be there." He snorts. "But I can think of many things I love about you."

"Do tell." A smile breaks across his face.

"I love your ability to lead. I love that you aren't ashamed of where you came from, no matter how much some shame you for it. I love that you can cook. I love your voice. I love your passion in everything that you do. I love you're concern for others. I love your eyes. I love your courage. I love how you can adapt to any situation. And yes, I love your hair." I gulp slightly. "I love the essence which is so distinctly you. It comforts me, guides me, though I do admit it clouds and muddles my thoughts." He's sat up by now and is looking me in the eye. "But mostly, I love you."

My cheeks heat up and I try to break eye contact. He places a hand on my jaw and forces me to look at him. His smile slowly spreads from cheek-to-cheek. "Say it again."

"I love you." He gently presses his lips to mine in what may be the most tender kiss we have ever shared.

"I love you, too." I kiss him again, and we exist in this happy world where no one and nothing can bother us. "I guess it's my turn now."

"Your turn to what?" I ask and kiss him again.

"My turn to list what I love about you." He pulls back farther as to not tempt either of us. "Give me a second." He takes a deep breath. "I love your mind. I love that half the time I have no clue what you're talking about, but you're just so excited that it rubs off on me. I love your passion for your research, however limited you may be now. I love your determination. I love your stubbornness, except for when it is directed at me. I love your voice. I love how open and free you are. I love your heart." He pushes a piece of hair from my face. "I love everything about you, even the parts that infuriate me from time to time."

"What do I do that infuriates you?" I scoff.

"Well, you used to run off and get yourself in trouble a lot. You being the princess has most definitely limited us. I often wish that we could just run away and never look back." He scooches a little bit closer to me. "I would like to be alone with you more. I wish we didn't have to have chaperones everywhere we go. I wish that we could be like we used to be and just go on adventures and see the world."

"Even once we're married we won't be able to do that. We'll have too many responsibilities here." I lament. "Eventually we'll have children and…things can never be the same."

"We just have to make the best with what we have."

"Which right now, is time alone."

"That it is." He smiles again and kisses me. We kiss slowly and gently for a while. I'm rather enjoying myself, but decide to try something some of my handmaidens told me about. I open my mouth and run my tongue along his lower lip. His breath quickens for a millisecond. His mouth opens slightly and my tongue slips in a little. He sucks a little bit on my lower lip.

He pulls me closer to him and places one of his hands on the small of my back. I hold his face in my hands. Our kisses become more heated. Eventually we break away and pant rather heavily. "I love you." I just relish saying it aloud.

"I love you, too." He gives me a peck on my lips. I bite my bottom lip a little, which prompts him to take my lip between his teeth and tugs lightly. I gasp and laugh a little. I kiss him again. "Goddesses above, you're beautiful." He doesn't give me time to respond and kisses me again.

-oOo-

We eventually end up back in the castle. And once again, we are outside my room with Urbosa guarding the hallway. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"More lessons."

"Your handwriting has improved." I smile.

"Yes, and so has my knowledge of utensils. I haven't been able to train in over a week."

"Well, the day after next is Saturday. So, you should have all day to yourself."

"You're going to come watch again, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am. I enjoy watching you work." I place my hands on his neck.

"You enjoy watching me sweat with my-"

"Shh." I scold. "Do you want me to stop coming by?"

"No, honestly they work harder with you there." His hands shift just above my hipbones. "They all want to impress you or something."

"And you don't?" I laugh. "You don't do anything extra when I'm around?"

"No, of course not."

"I have witnessed you backflip over a sword."

"Yes, you have."

"Not something you did to impress me?"

"No."

"I don't believe you."

"You shouldn't." He admits. He kisses me again, and we bid each other goodnight.

Once he's gone, I undress and put on my nightgown. Two months. Two months and we will be expected to become engaged. Three months ago, we hardly spoke to each other. We were both always so busy that our hopes of still spending time together had been crushed. I had so much about politics and ruling to learn. I realized at my first lesson just how little I knew. My entire adolescent life had been spent in prayer and research. I have no idea what I would have done had something happened to father. Though I now am relatively confident in my abilities, I still have so much to learn.

And Link has been training our guards. They've never been better, we all admit that. Our guards are significantly better trained and happier in general. About a year ago, yiga assassins attempted to break into my room as well as Link's and kill us in our sleep. Even with their teleportation abilities, they didn't make it to my door. The noise did not even awake me, no, Link came and woke me up to make sure that I was okay.

 _"Princess." A gentle voice calls. "Your highness, please wake up. Zelda!" I slowly open my eyes, blinking a few times to get rid of the blur of sleep. "Thank Hylia." My vision clears, and a pair of sapphire eyes greats me._

 _"What's wrong?" I sit up and look at the man kneeling next to my bed._

 _"Nothing now. A pair of yiga broke into the castle. One made it to my room, but I took care of him quickly. I sounded the silent alarm to the guards and they found another one attempting to get in here."_

 _"You're fine? Correct?" I search him, looking for any visible wounds._

 _"A cut on my arm, but that's it."_

 _"You need to go to a healer."_

 _"I've got it bandaged. I'll be fine."_

 _"What happened to them?" My arms involuntarily stretch above my head as I yawn._

 _"The one who attacked me got away, teleported before I could stop him. The one who came over here was caught. Lady Impa is currently interrogating him."_

 _"It's midnight!"_

 _"Are you going to stop her?" He's right, once Impa sets her mind to something, nothing can stop her._

 _"I had hoped that we would be done with the yiga."_

 _"So had I."_

 _"Zelda." Father's wearing only his pajamas and a velvet robe. "Thank goodness you're all right." Link moves aside as my father hugs me. "I don't know what I would have done if something happened to you."_

 _"I'm all right father. I wasn't even woken."_

 _"Really?"_

 _"No, Lord Link woke me to make sure I was all right, but I slept through everything else."_

 _"How are you?" Father turns to the other man in the room, wrapping his arms protectively around my shoulders._

 _"Just a scratch."_

 _"I was told that your intruder got away."_

 _"Sadly, I knocked him across the room; he was able to teleport then."_

 _"Your guards were able to stop them from getting anywhere near Zelda."_

 _"Yes, they were."_

 _"Every day it seems I become more indebted to you." Father admits. "You have once again saved my daughter's life."_

 _"Just doing my job, your majesty."_

 _"_ _Go back to sleep, both of you. We will discuss all of this in the morning."_


	10. The Rapier

**AN:**

 **Not Nintendo. Okay guys, I'm worried about not getting all of this published before I go to school. So, I'm going to start updating in pairs unless it's a very long chapter. So, you'll get twice as much to read every day!**

 **Neo Aguni: Perhaps they will.**

 **Arcmelos: Thanks!**

That Saturday I sit in my usual chair beneath the awning next to his office and watch Link train his guards. Currently they're sparring, practicing a new move he taught them. He circles around, correcting form, and giving tips. He then returns to me, and I hand him a glass of water. "They're doing well."

"Yeah, they are. I'm impressed. Ryell and Aron have been doing well with them." He leans against the wall and watches them.

"Did you doubt them?"

"They're not as scared of them as they are me."

"Your reputation precedes you."

"My reputation as what?"

"The man who took down Calamity Ganon. Anyone would be intimidated by that."

"And the favorite of the princess."

"And my favorite." I take another sip from my glass. "Do you think you could teach me some? You did before."

"Before you would often wander off and leave me. I had to teach you something just so you wouldn't get killed."

"Is that a no?"

"If you really want to, I can teach you."

"Good. I want to learn. Should something happen, I don't want to be useless."

"Nothing's going to happen where you'll be alone."

"Then I want to learn for fun. I taught you to dance, you can teach me to fight."

"Well, we're almost done for the day. I can teach you once this lesson ends."

"Yay!"

-oOo-

"Alright. We need to find a weapon that's the right weight and size for you." Link walks up and down the storeroom, looking for something suitable. I look around all of the weapons, swords all of different lengths and widths, then one specific one catches my eye.

"What's this one?" I ask, picking up the narrow blade.

"A rapier." He answers, walking over to me. "You know what, I think that this will work for you." He takes the one from my hand and tests the balance. He does this to a couple more of them, but ultimately hands me the first one. "How did you pick the best one?" He picks up another one for himself.

"I don't know." I shrug and follow him to the training yard.

"Eventually, we will probably add a shield, but for now let's just practice with the blade." We stand in the middle of a clearing and several people look at us curiously. "Okay, stand still. I'm going to place you properly." I do as he says, and he walks around me, placing me in the starting position. "Left leg back a little." While he's fine positioning my arms by touch, my legs not so much.

"I feel slightly silly."

"You're supposed to." He assures me. "Now, you're going to want to stay in this position as much as possible. You may be forced out of it in a fight, but you always want to come back here. The rapier is a thrusting weapon, you stab at your enemy more than you slash."

He walks me through the basics of how I should move and how to stab. "I still feel silly."

"You'll get more comfortable with it the more you practice. Now, I want you to stab at me."

"What if I hurt you?"

"You're not going to hurt me."

"What if I'm so bad that something stupid happens, and I hurt you?"

"The blade is blunt; the tip has been dipped in some protectant specifically for this." He motions towards the oddly yellow point of the blade. "It's just like any sparring weapon, designed to prevent stupid things from happening. Now, stab at me." I do as he says, he easily sidesteps my attack. "See, you aren't going to hurt me."

"Yes, you're very good, and I am not."

"I haven't really taught you anything yet."

"Then teach me!"


	11. Eventual Engagement

**AN:**

 **Um…still not the owner of** ** _Legend of Zelda_** **.**

It has been four months to the day since Link and I began courting. So, we are in a meeting with my father about our inevitable engagement. "I am not going to tell you to do it now. You two can decide when you're ready to marry whenever you want to. I just need to confirm that at some point it will happen and that this is what you both want."

Link and I have spoken of our wedding in passing, always as an absolute, but we haven't really discussed marriage itself. We probably should have done that by now. We look at each other, uncertain of what to say.

"Okay, how about this? Are you two happy together?" We both nod.

"Can you see yourselves not being together anymore?" We shake our heads.

"Do you want to be together for the rest of your lives?" Nod.

"Do you see yourselves becoming engaged within the year?" Nod.

"Do you see yourselves marrying in the next two years?" Nod.

"Okay, that's all I needed. The council is going to push very hard for you to become engaged sooner rather than later." They're already pushing for it. "Zelda, dear, I need to speak with Lord Link alone for a few minutes." I get up, leave, and wait for my future fiancé to leave the room. I guess he's probably talking about… I don't know. There shouldn't really be anything that he needs to speak with him about which I cannot be present for.

A few minutes later, he comes out. We leave the library and begin walking down the halls, hand-in-hand. "When do you want to get engaged?"

"I don't know, surprise me." I shrug.

"Really?"

"Well the fact that it's coming won't be a surprise, but I want to see if you can surprise me with how you do it."

"You're giving me a challenge for my proposal?"

"Yes."

"Why does that not surprise me?"

"Because you've known me for a long time now."

"That I have."

"Do you have anything planned today?"

"No, why?"

"I was hoping that we could practice some more."

"Sure, but we both have to go change."

-oOo-

We've practiced at least twice a week for two months now. I'm getting much better. I'm proficient with a shield, but I'm currently working on fighting with a dagger in my other hand. "You're incredible."

"You've taught me well." I block his attack and push him off of me. He doesn't use a rapier anymore when we spar, instead he uses a broadsword, which he is far more comfortable with.

"I better be able to." He swings at my head, which I duck away from. "If I can't teach you, I can't teach anyone."

"What're you saying with that?"

"You pick up things a lot easier than most. You're a fast learner." He flat out flips over me. I have to turn around in a millisecond just to block his attack. "If I was incapable of teaching someone as quick as you, how could I teach anyone slower?"

I jump over his legs as he kicks at me from the ground. He jumps back up, and I take a jab at him. He blocks it with his weapon and our blades end up sliding against each other to the hilt. We're both breathing heavy, and our faces are inches away from each other. He brusquely grabs the back of my neck and pulls my mouth to his. Our blunt weapons fall down to our sides, and I place my small dagger in the holster on my hip before placing my hand on his forearm. His hand slides down my shoulder and arm. Seems that we both have the same idea.

I act quickly and grab onto the hilt of his sword, attempting to pull it free of his hand while also trying to hold tight to my rapier as he did the same to me. Our lips disconnect, and we just look at each other and laugh. "It was worth a shot."

He twists his weapon out of my hand and swipes it at me. I easily sidestep his attack and ready for another one. We go at this for a long time before he finally disarms me.

"I win."

"Does the winner deserve a prize?"

"Oh, most definitely." He stabs his blunt weapon in the dirt and kisses me. His hands go to my waist, and I move to cup the back of his neck in my hands. But my left hand stops at the front, with my dagger. He pulls away from me as the cool metal touches his skin. My right hand holds his neck still.

"I win."

"You sneaky little…" He stops himself.

"I never said that I conceded, and you failed to disarm me entirely."

"Please never use that as a tactic against anyone else."

"But it was so effective." I pout, releasing his neck and placing the dagger back in my holster.

"Yes, against me, your fiancé."

"Not yet."

"Okay, your eventual fiancé."

"Closer." Someone begins cheering, then six figures appear. The Champions, Impa, and my father all watched us. I take my rapier and sheathe it. Link does the same with his broadsword. I wipe off my face some, I always work up a sweat when we spar.

"You're getting better, maybe someday you'll be able to actually disarm me." He wipes his forehead on his sleeve.

"I like my approach."

"And I'm sure your father did, too." Yeah.

"That was wonderful." Urbosa declares, walking up to us. "You did very well, little vai."

"That you did." Impa agrees. "Even if your technique was far from traditional."

"I can't beat him in strength, I have to use my head more."

"And your mouth."

"URBOSA!" Father, Link, and I all yell at once. She just laughs at us.

"Other than that, you did very well. You have become quite skilled with a rapier." Father informs me.

"Thank you."

"Which of you chose the rapier?"

"She did, I was just looking for a broadsword the right size for her, but she found the rapiers."

"Your mother was quite skilled with them. I never found out why she trained so much, but it was incredible to see." He informs me.

"I guess some part of me just knew."

"I'm sure it did."

"She gave you a run for your rupees, huh, little guy?" Daruk asks, clapping Link on his back.

"The problem with teaching someone everything you know is just that. They know everything you do. You can't really surprise them."

"I can't believe you knew all that she does now." Oh, Revali. Mipha, who for the first time since the beginning of our courtship is present, remains silent. She doesn't look at me with hatred, she doesn't look at me at all. She either stares off into space, the ground, or whoever is speaking. She doesn't look at Link, either. I somewhat pity her, she had been in love with Link for so many years, grown up with him, healed him so many times. And now she feels betrayed. Not only did he reject her, but he asked for someone she considered a friend. I would feel the same way had I been in her place.

"What was it I heard? That you actually defended me against Duke Narkell during the debate about the courtship?"

"How did you find out about that?" Revali asks, his eyes narrowing.

"I train the guards who were standing in the room. They told me." Link lies. "They couldn't believe it either."

"What else did they tell you?" Father asks. He knows very well of the secret window, and that I know about it, too.

"Not a ton, mostly that Duke Narkell embarrassed himself."

"That he did." Impa nods.

 **AN:**

 **Any chapter now until he puts a ring on it. Crap, now I have Beyoncé stuck in my head.**


	12. The Tournament

**AN:**

 **Hello lovely people! I am not Nintendo. None of this is canon. In case you couldn't figure it out. Skip ahead another month.**

 **Guest: Thank you!**

"Are you ready for the tournament today?" Hannah pulls tightly on my corset. Each year the castle hosts a tournament on Hyrule field to celebrate the beginning of Spring. We've been preparing for weeks and for the next few days, all of my time will be spent watching people fight each other. There is also a festival, people dance and eat and play music well into the night. I've never been allowed to stay for that, due to the excessive amounts of alcohol consumed after dark.

"I guess." I would shrug my shoulders were I not gripping onto the bedpost so tightly.

"It should be fun. All of the guards and knights have been looking forward to it."

"I'm sure they have." I take another deep breath, and she yanks again. "Is Samuel competing?"

"Yes, he's going to be jousting."

"I wish him luck." Samuel is her beau, though she always blushes and tries to deny it whenever you call him such.

"I will relay it to him." She pulls again and ties off the ends. "Is Lord Link participating?"

"Yes, his family is also going to be there. He's sword fighting."

"I doubt that he will have much competition."

"He probably won't. He hasn't before." He's won five different times already. "He's rather upset that part of the winner's prize is a kiss from me."

"I'm sure he is. I honestly can't believe that he isn't competing in all of the challenges just to win them all so you don't kiss anyone else." It has been tradition for as long as anyone can remember, that if there is an unmarried Princess of Hyrule at the time, she gifts each winner with a kiss. When I was a child, I just kissed them on the forehead, and it was cute. But, when I turned fifteen, it was expected for me to actually kiss them, which became very strange with the thirty-year-old men. Thankfully, they have the option to request that I kiss another part of their face and those significantly older than me always did. The tradition is from before women were allowed to compete, but I don't mind that. At least I am relatively certain that a Gerudo won't try anything funny.

"That's against the rules!" You're only allowed to compete in one challenge, otherwise someone such as Link could possibly win them all.

"I know, but it's funny to think about." She drops my dress over my head and quickly fastens it. Taking a seat at my vanity, I allow her to brush through my hair and pin it in place. "I hope that something will be enjoyable to you."

"I'm sure something will be." She places my circlet, which is significantly more ornate than the tiara I normally wear, on top of my head and fixes any hairs that it disturbed.

-oOo-

When father and I arrive to the tournament grounds, they're already completely covered. People from all over Hyrule have shown up to either witness or compete in the tournament. "Make way!" The coachman yells.

"Come Zelda, we are already running late." Father informs me as the door swings open. He gets out first, and I follow, taking his arm as we walk. Everyone around us kneels in respect. As they kneel, the people behind them follow, and soon everyone I can see is kneeling to us. I never have been comfortable with this.

We make it to the Royal Box, where Link's family is already waiting for us. Since we will be family eventually, father and I decided that it would be inappropriate for them to sit anywhere else. Link is currently with the other competitors, waiting for the opening ceremony to begin. The curtains are lowered, so we cannot see outside and cannot be seen. The Cavaleiro family smile and bow to us before straightening once again. I smile broadly at them. "Good morning."

"Good morning, your majesty, your highness." Lord Allard replies.

"Sit, please," father motions to the plush chairs waiting for us. A large table full of food is in the back. I take my seat, the one on the right of the throne. Someone knocks on the door. "Come in."

"Your majesty, the competitors are all ready and waiting." A young squire informs us.

"Then let us begin." Father stands up from his throne and nods for the curtain to rise. Trumpets begin blaring, and I stand as well. Father and I both make it to the edge of the box, looking out to the people. "My noble subjects! Welcome to this year's Tournament of Farore. We thank each…"

I tune him out and look around the stands. There are five more boxes not nearly as big as this one. A box for the ruling family of each race. Each box was decorated to represent the race. The Gerudo box is purple and red with gold trim, the Zora is light blue with silver trim, and so on. The Gerudo and Rito boxes do not currently contain their leaders. Urbosa and Revali must be competing.

Then the competitors arrive, divided by challenge. They form lines and kneel facing us. I immediately look for Link. He is flanked by Urbosa and a Sheikah I don't recognize. Father recognizes the contestants and turns to me. "Now, my daughter, Princess Zelda, will open the tournament."

"I, Princess Zelda Minerva Hyrule, declare the Tournament of Farore to begin. May the best warrior win." Applause rings in my ears as the competitors rise and leave to the makeshift barracks. Link should join us soon, today is the jousting tournament. I walk to the back to get some food while they set up for the tournament. "And how are you, Alisse?"

"I am very well, thank you." She's grown up quite a bit. It's been about three and a half years since the ball, she's eleven now. "How are you?"

"I am well. Though I do wish it were not so warm. This corset is going to be the death of me."

"I'm very glad I'm not old enough to wear those yet."

"I do miss those days." My plate is covered with pieces of fruit and a pastry. "You never quite get used to them. What have you been doing recently? It's been a few months since I last saw you."

"I'm working hard on my lessons."

"Link told me that your piano playing is the best he's ever heard." He was the one to bring them to the castle, and visited for a few days.

"He's too nice to me."

"I would like to hear some time, if you don't mind that is."

"I would love to play for you." She smiles widely. "Though don't get your hopes up, Link tends to exaggerate."

"That he does." Like with my rapier skills.

"Zelda." Father demands.

"Duty calls." I sigh and join him. The rails are all set up and the first two competitors are waiting for their cue.

"Begin." Father announces once I arrive at his side. The two riders charge at each other, lances aimed for the chest.

I turn around as I hear the door open. "Link!" I walk over to him and wrap my arms around his neck.

"Hey Princess." My face screws up a little at the title and he laughs. "I have already been informed that no one is going to let me win just because I'm courting you."

"Who told you that?"

"Narkell's son, also Urbosa, but I'm sure that was a joke."

"I can't wait to see you knock that boy over in two seconds." Narkell's son has never competed in the tournament before, and I know that he signed up to compete in swordplay _after_ it became public knowledge that Link had. While it is a rigorous selection process for who exactly does get to compete, there was no way we couldn't allow the son of a council member to compete.

"If he even gets to me." The tournaments are done in rounds, pairs are put together for the first round, and the winner from that moves on to the next. It used to be that once you won, you didn't stop fighting, but everyone quickly realized that putting the exhausted best against a fully energized mediocre may end badly. This way, no one gets exhausted.

"Who knows, maybe the boy finally picked up a sword."


	13. A Dream

**AN:**

 **Still not Nintendo.**

Sadly, Samuel did not win the jousting tournament. He put up a fair fight, getting to the second to last round, but ultimately, he lost. Hannah was still proud of him, though.

Now it's starting to get dark. The ceremony for the winners all happen on the last day of the festival. A day which has no challenges, so the winners look their best. Tomorrow is the archery tournament, which surprise, surprise, Revali is competing in. I'm sure he'll do exceptionally well. Though his attitude is often annoying, he is rather skilled. "Zelda, it is time for you to return to the castle."

"Yes father." I stand.

"I'll take you back." Link offers.

"Not alone you won't." Father demands.

"We'll take Alisse with us, she needs to be getting back, too." His family is staying at the castle.

"Not much of a chaperone."

"If we do anything bad with a child present, then there are many other problems which need to be dealt with." Please, please, please.

"I guess you're right, Zelda. Lady Alisse, you have to promise me to not let these two out of your sight. I am placing you in charge of them."

"I promise your majesty."

"Good girl. Good night, dear." He turns to me and hugs me. "Link."

"Your majesty." Link nods.

"Take the carriage, just send them back when you get there."

"Yes, father." Link takes my arm and leads me away from the adults, Alisse walks on his other side. "Well, today was much better than it could have."

"What do you mean?" Alisse asks.

"In the past, people have gotten seriously injured. It's very easy for someone to get hurt."

"Will Link get hurt in his challenge?"

"I doubt anyone will even be able to land a blow on him. He's won before." I think back to his first tournament five years ago. No one knew him, but he defeated every opponent. He was so young, yet he took down competitors with twice as much experience as him. It's what got my father looking into him in the first place. When he discovered the triforce of courage belonged to this boy, he rushed Link to the Master Sword as quickly as possible. "That's how we first met."

"Does that count?"

"It's better than my father pulling me along to watch you pull that sword."

"Considering how angry you were, yeah, you're right."

"In a sense, we could count that as our first kiss."

"Yes, and four more after that, then the ones that actually counted."

"I liked the last three." I admit.

"Can we please talk about something else?" Alisse's cheeks are as red as a cherry. I laugh slightly, but understand the girl.

"Sorry." Link smiles bashfully. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Almost anything else."

-oOo-

That night I dream about the past tournaments.

 _"Are you ready, Princess?" My brunette handmaiden asks._

 _"No, but I don't have much of a choice." Hannah rides with me to the Sacred Grounds, where I will be presenting the winners with their prizes. I was not allowed to watch the fights, no, I got to spend the entire time in prayer._

 _There are several competitions, but the three that matter most are jousting, archery, and swordplay. Though I will be presenting the prizes to all of them, I only really know anything about three of them._

 _The jousting champion was General Dalt of the army. He's a kind man, but over twice my age._

 _The archery champion was Revali of the Rito._

 _Those two were no surprise, they've won in the past._

 _But the swordplay champion…is a boy. A boy who somehow defeated Urbosa, the leader of the Gerudo. He's maybe a year older than me, and he defeated some of the best warriors in Hyrule. He must be something incredible. He must be very large._

 _Or at least, that's what I thought I was going to find. No, instead there is this child in front of me. He's barely my height and extremely lithe. This boy defeated Urbosa?_

 _"Winners of the Tournament of Farore, we congratulate you on your victory. Zelda, would you please present our victors with their prizes?" The victors all kneel to me._

 _"Yes, father." I start at the left side, presenting small prizes to the foot race winner, the lance tossing winner, and a few more, along with their kiss. I don't really think anything of it, it's just skin contact after all. There is no meaning behind the kiss._

 _Father has been announcing their names as I go down the line. "Master Revali. We present to you the golden arrows; may they always find their mark." Um…where do I kiss the Rito? He must see my confusion and generously taps his cheek._

 _"Thank you." I whisper as I pull away from him._

 _"General Dalt. We present you with the golden steed; it will always obey its master." Before I even finish handing him the trophy, he taps his forehead. I quickly kiss the top of his balding head and move on to the last winner. The boy._

 _"Sir Link. We present you with the golden scabbard; for it's dangerous to go alone take this." I look at the boy. Had I not held a grudge against him for defeating my friend I would have thought him handsome. His sapphire eyes sparkle slightly._

 _"Thank you." He whispers as I hand him the trophy. I quickly lean over and press my lips to his. I squeeze my eyes shut and pull back as fast as I had leaned in. Apparently, the boy was unprepared because his eyes are as large as saucers. Had he not watched the other winners receive their prizes?_

 _-oOo-_

 _A year later the same thing happened. Link won, and I got to share a kiss with my appointed knight. Once again, I was not allowed to watch the competitions. I spent all day in prayer. I go down the line, handing out prizes and kissing each victor wherever they request it. I have no confusion about kissing Revali this year. And then I make it to Link. I have been trying very hard to be better to him. He deserves better than how I have treated him. After he saved me from those yiga assassins, I had a complete change of heart regarding him._

 _"Sir Link. We present you with the golden scabbard; for it's dangerous to go alone take this." I lean down to gently press my lips to his. I hold his chin in my hand and slowly pull away. He was prepared this year. He gives me a small smile, a sort of sorry, I guess._

 _-oOo-_

 _This was the first year I was allowed to watch the competitions. Not only am I an adult now, but after everything I went through with Ganon, safe violence is nothing. I was able to witness my former knight defeat every opponent. It truly was incredible. The one who came closest to defeating him was Urbosa, but even she could not take him down._

 _"Take this." I hand him the scabbard for a third time and kiss him. Unlike the other two times I've done this, this time I want it to mean something. I wish I could kiss him any other time. I linger longer than I should, but still pull back much sooner than I wish to. His eyes lazily open back up and he smiles at me._

 _-oOo-_

 _Another year, another win. Honestly, we probably should bar him from competing. He's much too skilled for this. But, that would be denying Hyrule's hero something he loves. And it's princess a kiss she longs for. I place the golden scabbard in his hand and slowly touch my mouth to his. I want this to last. I want this to be real. But it's not. I pull away, and we're still in front of a crowd, and my kiss was nothing more than a prize._

 _-oOo-_

 _I don't know how many more years I can do this. Having the ability to kiss the man I love, but it not meaning anything is driving me to insanity. The entire tournament it was all I could think of. I didn't pay attention to the fights, I watched him sit with his family and watch the fights._

 _He has become like a sickness. A madness I can't escape from. A large part of me doesn't want to escape. Most of me doesn't. All of me doesn't. I don't want to escape. I want to dive further in. I want to be with him. I want to kiss him whenever I feel like it, not just at the end of a tournament. I want to be with him._

 _But I can't._

 _At least not now._

 _I place the golden scabbard in his hands for the fifth time before almost sadly kiss him. He can't be mine. No matter how much I want him to be. He doesn't want me._

 **AN:**

 **Oh, 19-year-old Zelda, if you only knew.**


	14. To the Victor Goes the Spoils

**AN:**

 **Hello! I am still not Nintendo. I'm also no good at writing combat, so sorry.**

 **Neo Aguni: Perhaps.**

 **Super-mega-punch: Good, you're supposed to.**

Revali won the archery contest, no surprise there. And now, it is time for the swordplay competition.

"Zelda, would you please read the names of the first two contestants?" Father asks.

"Yes, father. Sir Mord Eanlac and Baron Ernest Mildoina." It's a quick fight. The knight takes down the Baron in only a few minutes. "Lady Urbosa Nabooru and," I have to pause for the Gerudo to quiet down, "and Lord Link Cavaleiro."

"Really?" Father asks.

"Yes." I nod. Yes, already.

"The final fight is going to be very boring." He comments. He's right, every year, this is the most interesting fight.

Link and Urbosa exit the "barracks" from opposite sides of the arena a few minutes later. They walk to the middle, shake hands, and turn to us.

"Ready?" They unsheathe their weapons and put their shields on their arms. "BEGIN!"

The reaction is immediate. They launch at each other. They're too fast for anyone to tell what really is going on. Weapons clang against each other, and shields bash together. Grunts and yells echo around the arena. I don't really know what's happening, but almost twenty minutes later, Link has his blade at Urbosa's throat.

"I concede!" Urbosa announces. Link sheathes his sword and helps the Gerudo up.

"Congratulations, Lord Cavaleiro." The two walk off, Urbosa grabbing Link and draping her arm over his shoulder. They're smiling and laughing as they leave.

The third fight of the next round is Link versus Narkell's son. "Lord Link Cavaleiro and Lord Simon Narkell." This should be fun. The two men enter the arena and walk towards the middle. Link holds out his hand to shake the man's hand. He doesn't get a reply. Link lets his hand drop and turns towards us.

"Ready? Begin!" Simon is naïve. He instantly swings at Link. Apparently, he tried very hard to hurt Link's pride, because instead of just stepping to the side, Link backflips over the blade. A second later, Simon is on the ground, unarmed, and with two blades at his throat. After he started jumping, I could see Link move, but no one else could. I saw him flip and rush the boy, grabbing his weapon out of his hand and kicking him over. I've seen him do that before, it's an ability the Triforce gave him, which is why I can see it happening, and no one else can. It's also something that no one else knows about. They know that he's fast, but the slowing of time for him thanks to the Triforce is something that we want to keep quiet about. But sometimes he can't help it, instinct takes over, and it happens.

"That's cheating!" Simon declares.

"What are you talking about?" Father asks.

"I didn't see him move! He must be using some magic!"

"Just because there is something that you cannot understand, does not mean that it's magic." It is in this case, but Link can't really help it.

"You wouldn't allow this to happen if he were not your daughter's suitor." What is with the Narkell's?

"He beat you using his own skills, concede or I will have you removed and banned from this festival." Please do it anyways.

"I concede." Link removes the blades from the boy's throat and offers his hand. Simon swats the hand to the side and storms off.

"Congratulations Lord Cavaleiro."

The rest of the fights are relatively uneventful. Though one woman gets sliced across the arm. Apparently, the protective sealant wasn't applied thickly enough on one part of the blade.

But, Link won and was unharmed. He easily cut down every challenger.

Now, Link has cleaned himself as best he could, and we're currently walking around the festival, looking at the different vendors, laughing, and just generally having a nice time with the champions, Impa, and their families.

"You did very well. I am proud of you." My head rests on his shoulder.

"This is the sixth time I've done it."

"And probably your last." Once we wed, he won't be able to compete any more.

"Probably."

"Do you think that you'll miss it?"

"Considering that the last year and the year before that, I only did it to get a kiss from you? No."

"What? Really?"

"I didn't have anything to prove anymore, I just…wow that sounded creepy."

"Is it less creepy if I admit that I only looked forward to it for the same reason?" I offer.

"A little bit."

"Why did you do it this year?"

"I'm bored." His shoulder shrugs beneath my cheek. "It gave me an excuse to have less lessons."

"After this year I probably won't be kissing the winners anymore."

"Good."

"Are you jealous? You shouldn't be. You get to kiss me whenever you want."

"That I do." He takes advantage of this and gently turns my head to face him, pressing our lips together. Several people groan, and we pull apart to laugh.

"Could you at least warn us so that we can look away?" Revali gripes.

"Please." Mipha's small voice follows. I don't think she meant for us to hear that.

"Sorry." I give the girl a sad smile. She's getting better. She's being present for much more and will now look me in the eye.

"You two are disgusting. It's cute, but it makes me sick." Daruk informs us.

"You're married!" Link cries. "With a child!"

"As am I, but I don't want to see that either." Sauron reminds us, Siriah (his and Urbosa's daughter) latched to his hand.

"I'm fine. I've worked too hard for this to not see the fruits of my labor." Urbosa. Why? Why must you be this way?

-oOo-

Later that night, when we have already returned to the castle, Link and I are walking through the gardens.

"Would you like to dance?" He asks once we reach the clearing we practiced in.

"I would love to." I take the Sheikah Slate from my hip and open the music files. "What dance?"

"The Garnell." The first one I ever taught him.

"Okay." I click on the file, and a few seconds later the music begins.

"It's been a few years, I may mess up." He admits.

"You'll be fine." I assure him, and we begin. We sweep around the garden. Our graceful turns and in-time steps make me feel like I'm floating. I do love dancing with him.

Soon…much too soon the song ends. He bows deeply and kisses my knuckles, but he keeps going. He stops when one of his knees hits the ground. What is he-

Wait.

I know.

I know what he's doing.

Good job.

He pulls out a small box and flips the lid. "Princess Zelda Minerva Hyrule, will you marry me?"

"Yes." I feel like my smile may break my face. "Yes, I will marry you." He slips the ring over my finger and stands. "I love you."

"I love you, too." He kisses me, long and slow. I'm sure that we would continue longer, except people start cheering and clapping. He pulls back and rests his forehead and nose on mine. "Was that enough of a surprise?"

"Close enough." I drop my head onto his shoulder. "There's people." That last bit I whisper. We pull farther apart, still looking at each other. Our friends and family appear around us.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Congratulations!" Urbosa cries.

"Good job, little guy." Daruk pats my fiancé on the back. "I knew you had it in you."

"You are very fortunate." Revali, could you be nice to him once? For me? Please?

"Congratulations." Father smiles at us.

"Father." I hug him, not releasing one of Link's hands. Everyone takes turns congratulating us and hugging us.


	15. Mipha

**AN:**

 **Hi babes! Not the owner of** ** _Legend of Zelda_** **.**

The rest of the night was spent celebrating. Alisse and Mipha turned in much earlier than the rest of us. The latter claiming that she was exhausted from refereeing the swimming competition that day. Zora are not allowed to compete for obvious reasons, but they're always more than willing to help with it. The same way the Gorons are not allowed to compete in the tests of strength, and the Rito are not allowed to compete in the long jump. Those are the only competitions with any sort of restrictions, and those restrictions were decided on by the races. It wasn't some angry loser who demanded that they not be able to compete.

Anyways, we spent the night laughing and drinking. I finally got to taste some alcohol which didn't hurt. My father even made a joke for the first time in over a decade. It wasn't a very good joke, but we laughed regardless. My father also pointed out that the approval of each race was going to be necessary before we announced the engagement. So, it's going to be a few weeks before I can even wear the ring publicly.

My mother's ring. My father gave Link my mother's ring. It was my grandmother's before and has been handed down generation to generation. No one knows it's age or who first wore it. It's said that the diamond is from the heart of Death Mountain. Some believe that it was first given by the Hero of Time to his Princess Zelda, but that's just a story.

-oOo-

"Lord Cavaleiro, we present you with the Golden Scabbard; for it's dangerous to go alone take this." I place the trophy in his hands for the sixth and final time before kissing him. Since our courtship is widely known, no one cares if I kiss him a little bit longer than I should. But sadly, we are still in public, and I must pull away. "Congratulations to all of our victors. We thank you all for participating and hope to see you again next year. And so, I, King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule, officially close the Tournament of Farore."

Applause rings around us. I smile as Purah takes a picture of my father and I with all of the winners. "You guys are good!"

The winners disperse, returning to their families. "Well, at least I know that I'll win next year." Urbosa notes.

"Unless someone else is good enough to defeat you." Link suggests, taking my hand.

"No one except you has defeated me yet." She reminds him. "And I would have some concerns if the chosen hero wasn't the best swordsman in the world."

"I'm sorry, but I can't stay any longer." Daruk apologizes. "Apparently Hyeis has caught the coro."

"I do hope your son will feel better." The coro is basically the Goron version of the cold. It isn't dangerous, but I understand him wanting to return home as quickly as possible.

"Thank you, Princess. I will have your answer within the week." We all bid him goodbye, and he rolls off.

"I probably ought to go as well." Revali replies. We all bid him farewell, and soon Urbosa leaves as well.

"Princess?" Mipha speaks directly to me for this first time in months.

"Yes?"

"May I speak with you, privately?" Oh no.

"Of course." Everyone else begins to return to the castle, confident in Mipha's ability to keep me safe should anything happen. "What is it?"

"I wanted to tell you…I wanted to tell you not to pity me. I see how you look at me. You above any of us deserve to be happy, and you can't be happy worrying over how I am going to react. I have come to terms with what is happening. I knew over a year ago that he did not love me the way I love him. I could not expect him to never love anyone."

"Mipha…"

"If he is happy with you, and you are happy with him, then that is more than I could ask for. I want him to be happy, even if it isn't with me." She sighs. "I am sure that I will find someone else. As I once heard someone say, 'there are plenty of fish in the sea.'" We both laugh a little at that. "Regardless of what my father and the other Zora decide, you and Link have my blessing."

"Thank you." I wrap my arms around her and hug her tight. "You truly are one of the best people I know."

"Thank you." She pulls away from me. "Please tell him this, I don't think I can do it myself."

"I will, I promise." I sigh. "Do you want me to talk to him about mending bridges?"

"I would like that. However, if he's still too angry with me, I understand." She looks down at the floor, ashamed. "I said some horrible things, if you knew them you might not forgive me."

"I owe you too much to not forgive you. Everyone messes up. Emotions get the better of everyone. I've said plenty of awful things to Link, and he forgave me." I was a brat to him for the first six months I knew him. "I'll tell you what happened after the council meeting about the races's approval."

"Thank you. Well, I better be going, father is going to wonder where I am."

"I will see you soon?"

"Yes."

"Then goodbye for now."

"Goodbye."


	16. The First Proposal

**AN:**

 **You know at this point.**

 **Guest: Woot!**

"What did Mipha want to talk to you about?" Link asks as we sit in his office, drinking tea.

"She told me not to pity her, that she wants us to be happy. She wants you to be happy, and she understands that that isn't with her… She gave us her blessing."

"She did?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to know what happened?"

"I know, she proposed, you declined, and she destroyed the armor." I sip my tea.

"Do you want to know in more detail?"

"Are you okay with talking about it?"

"Not entirely, but if we're going to marry, I probably should tell you."

"You don't have to."

"I need to. You need to know." He places his cup down. "It was three days after I turned twenty. I was home at the time and decided to go visit Zora's Domain for a few days. That night, after dinner, Mipha asked me to take a walk with her. I didn't think anything of it, it had been a while, and I thought that she wanted to catch up. I did notice that not only was she carrying her trident, but also a bag. We walked for a long time, talking about nothing in particular.

"Then, we ended up near the Bank of Wishes, and she stopped. 'This is where we first met.' She said. 'Do you remember?' I told her that I couldn't forget. When I tried to continue walking, she stopped me. 'I have something to ask you. Over these many years, I have considered you my best friend. I have healed your wounds many times, and you have brought much joy into my life. But, at some point, it became more than friendship to me. I…I began to fall in love with you.' She then pulled out the armor, and I began to panic.

"'I love you, Link. I always have, and I would like it very much if you would agree to marry me.'" He stops after that, swallowing a few times before continuing. "I didn't know what to say. I knew that she had feelings for me that were greater than friendship, I would have to be blind not to have seen that. But, I didn't think that she was going to be so forward about it. She started panicking when I didn't reply, assuring me that we did not have to get married immediately. I don't know why, but the fact that she couldn't consider that I didn't want to marry her somewhat hurt. It's crazy. But, she just assumed that my answer would be yes. Since then I've tried to figure out if I somehow lead her to believing that her feelings were reciprocated.

"But I had to tell her no. 'Mipha, I love you as my closest friend. You have been too good to me all of these years. I truly don't deserve having someone like you in my life. But I can't marry you.' I said. Then she asked why. I tried to tell her that I always saw her like another sister, someone I should love and protect, but not marry. She started getting angry. I don't know who she was angrier at, me or herself.

"But she said something that crossed a line, 'It's Zelda. Isn't it? You don't want to be with me because you're hoping the more powerful princess will want you. You think that her saving you meant something. That her magic being connected to you meant anything more than your pieces of the Triforce. Do you not remember how she treated you? Do you not remember her insulting words? Her anger? How she yelled at you all the time? I know she's gotten better, but that could simply be guilt. Besides, you do realize that you're going to have to fight other nobles, princes, kings for her, don't you? She could have any man in the world.'"

We sit in silence for a while after that. "She seemed to regret what she said immediately. She started apologizing and trying to get my forgiveness. But it was too late. I had never seen that part of her. She was so angry and full of hatred for you. I thought that she had been your friend. Yet, the moment she did not get what she wanted, she turned. I tried to leave without another word. 'Where are you going?' She asked.

"'I'm going to get my stuff from the Domain and go home. Don't follow me.' I ordered without even looking back at her. I heard a loud splash, and she started crying. She had thrown the armor in the river. I don't know what happened to it after that. I kept going. I went to the Domain, got my stuff, and went home. I haven't spoken to her since."

"I'm sorry." My voice is small. Mipha is so kind, thinking about her getting angry is a horrifying thought.

"You didn't do anything. I wish that had gone differently. I wish that I could have somehow salvaged our friendship. I wish she hadn't gotten so angry, that we could have discussed it. I know that that wasn't really her, that she was heartbroken and upset, but…every time I look at her, that's all I can think of. I just see her so full of the hate I never thought her capable of. I don't know if I can forgive her. I want to…I want to have my friend back, but some messed up part of me thinks it's better this way."

"If you want to be her friend again, then I will support you. If you decide to keep things the way they are, I will support you. I know that she wants to have you as her friend back, but that doesn't mean you have to do it. If you can't forgive her, she will understand. She told me that if I knew what she had said I wouldn't forgive her." I lightly grasp his chin to turn his face towards mine. His normally crystal clear eyes are cloudy with tears.

"Do you?"

"I wasn't there when it was said, and she's sorry now. I forgive her, but I do understand why you wouldn't. I may have been mentioned, but this was your life. Someone you trusted hurt you. I don't know what I would do if Urbosa started insulting you to my face."

"I think I should try. She was my friend for too long to throw it all away."

"She'll be here for the next council meeting. You can speak with her after that." I suggest.

"Will you be there?"

"If you want me to be."


	17. Approval

**AN:**

 **I merely own copies of the games, not the property itself.**

In an almost exact parallel from five months ago, Link and I are waiting for the council to arrive to approve our relationship. I wear the engagement ring on a chain around my neck. Normally it's hidden in my clothes, but not now. No, right now Link is holding it and staring at it. "We're getting married."

"That we are. Not having second thoughts, are you?" I raise my eyebrows.

"No, of course not. It's just insane to think that we are actually getting married. A few years ago, I was merely a knight."

"My knight."

"Your knight." He amends. "And at some point in the future I'm going to be the Prince Consort. That's quite a jump."

"From knight to marquess to husband of the princess to prince consort." I sigh. "If we want to go into more detail, it's person to squire to knight to princess's appointed knight/champion to marquess to husband of the princess to prince consort."

"Person." He chuckles.

"Well you didn't have much of a title as a child. You just kind of existed."

"We could go into more detail and go fetus to infant to toddler to child to preteen-"

"We can stop now." I interrupt. He laughs and kisses me. "Are we going to ask them today?"

"About the traditions? Might as well." The doors burst open, and the council floods in. Everyone goes straight to their seats. I soon see why, my father followed them in. He takes his place at the head of the table and we all sit after he does.

"As you all know by now, Lord Link has requested for my daughter's hand in marriage. Since you all knew that this was coming during the vote over their courtship, we only require the blessings of each race." He motions towards my champions and Impa, who all rise.

"The Sheikah bless the marriage of Princess Zelda and Lord Link."

"The Gorons bless the marriage of Princess Zelda and Lord Link."

"The Gerudo bless the marriage of Princess Zelda and Lord Link."

"The Rito bless the marriage of Princess Zelda and Lord Link."

"The Zora bless the marriage of Princess Zelda and Lord Link."

"And that is that. Does anyone else have anything that needs to be discussed?"

"Yes, father, we do."

"Then speak, my dear." Link and I rise, holding hands.

"Lord Link and I would like to make a request to the representatives of each race. Over the past two weeks we have decided that we would like to honor a wedding tradition from each race. Whether this be during the ceremony, at the celebration, or whenever it usually takes place. Would you please help us honor your people during our wedding?" They all agree. "Thank you. That is all." We sit again, and father dismisses the council. The representatives stay behind to ask questions.

"What sort of tradition do you want?" Impa asks.

"Anything really." I shrug.

"I am afraid that the main Rito tradition will not work for the two of you. It requires feathers."

"What is it?" Link asks.

"Necklaces are made by each partner out of one of their feathers. The necklaces are exchanged at the ceremony. It hangs over the heart to signify that that is where your partner is. I'm afraid that using your hair would be rather strange."

"Could we make charms or something? Something that represents us?"

"That could work." Revali considers. "What would you make them out of?"

"I don't really know. We'll have to think about that. Since it's meant to be a feather, I would prefer that we personally make them instead of having them commissioned." I guess we could have the goldsmith help us make the charms.

"The Gorons don't have many traditions." Daruk admits.

"It doesn't have to be something physical, it could be a certain vow or song or something like that." Link informs him.

"The Gerudo take the bride the night before the wedding and have a sort of party. It's called 'the kidnapping of the bride'."

"We'll have to have that mentioned at the ceremony, so everyone knows that we did honor a Gerudo tradition." The type of party she's speaking of somewhat concerns me. Mostly because I have no idea what it entails.

"Usually, after the ceremony, the Sheikah leader presents the couple with a blanket made by someone in the community. It's 'to ensure that the couple will not be without'." We all laugh slightly, seeing as we are sitting in the middle of the palace which I will one-day rule from.

"Oh, there's an old Goron song sang at the celebration."

"Who sings it?"

"Everyone except the couple."

"I don't think we'll be able to teach all of the guests the song, but if all of the Gorons present are willing to, we would love to have them sing it."

"We have a tradition where the couple takes bottles of water from where they grew up and combine them in a larger bottle." Mipha suggests.

"That sounds perfect." I assure her. "Thank you all for helping us with this."

"Is this normal for Royal weddings?" Daruk asks.

"No, but we are far from normal."

-oOo-

"Link?"

"Mipha."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I said to you. I'm sorry that I hurt you." The Zora Princess starts babbling. Her words repeat over and over, and she keeps coming up with more things to be sorry about.

"Mipha." Link interjects.

"Yes?"

"I…I forgive you. You were hurt, we all say things we don't mean when we're upset." He holds tightly to my hand. "Does what you said upset me? Yes. But, I miss my friend."

"Have you told her what I said?" She cringes slightly and her eyes dart to me.

"Yes, I have. We're going to be married, I don't want to keep secrets from her."

"Do you forgive me?"

"Yes, I do." I assure her.

"Why? I was horrible to you. I said awful things."

"They were true, for the most part. I was rude and angry for six months to Link. It's a miracle he forgave me. I did feel guilt for a while and it did motivate me to treat him better, but eventually things changed. Obviously, things changed. I'm still ashamed of how I acted. But, if I deserve forgiveness for what I did, so do you."

"Thank you." She stares down at the floor.

"Come on, we better get going. The others will begin to wonder where we are." Link suggests. This is going to take a long time, friendships are not mended overnight. But we have to start somewhere.

-oOo-

That night, Urbosa decides to bring out the alcohol again. She really only has one way to celebrate things. Thankfully, we're in the castle, so I have the option to drink something lighter than whatever that was she gave me. She kicks everyone not a champion out of the lounge, a visiting area in the private wing of the castle.

Poor Mipha is still unable to drink and just sits there, making sure none of us do anything too stupid. "To the engagement of Zelda and Link!" Urbosa cries and lifts her first drink.

We all make some noise and clank our glasses together. "When's the wedding?" Revali asks.

"Four months, the Day of Falling Stars." I answer, sipping on my wine.

"Four months to plan a wedding!" Urbosa gapes.

"Royal weddings are always on the Day of Falling Stars." I explain.

"You should've proposed like a month ago." Urbosa scolds my fiancé.

"Don't worry, a lot of stuff has already been done. Basically, planning began when our courtship did."

"Okay, that's a little better."

"Yeah, it's still going to be stressful." I look over at Daruk, who is already on his second glass.

I don't get as drunk as last time we did this. Though, I am fairly tipsy. I'm giggly and flirty. So, I embarrass Link a lot. I don't even really say anything aloud, but I whisper things to him that make his face redden.

Revali passes out at some point. He's snoring.

Daruk is fine.

Mipha is sad and sober.

Urbosa's having a field day. She's laughing at basically everything. EVERYTHING.

Especially Link's ever reddening face.

None of us went to bed. So, I wake up early in the morning on a couch. Something warm is beneath my cheek. I open my eyes and blink a few times before realizing that the warmth is my fiancé. "Ugh." My noise and movement wake him up.

"Hmm. What time is it? Where are we?"

"Who knows anymore." I look around the room. Revali's still passed out in the armchair. Daruk is sprawled out on the floor. Mipha is curled up in a little ball in the other armchair. Urbosa is taking up the entirety of the other couch. I often must remind myself that two of these people are parents. We look like we had a lot more fun last night than we actually did. Especially with the empty bottles littering the floor.

…

…

…

My father is going to kill me.


	18. A Piece of You

**AN:**

 **You know the drill.**

 **TheOnePotatoToRuleThemAll: Same.**

 **No Name: It probably is, but there are times I may do that if a chapter is real short or…well you'll find out that "or" later.**

I survived. I only survived because we woke everyone up and got rid of any evidence of what happened. But I survived. My father can never know.

Today is my first fitting for my wedding dress. I'm not sure if I'm more excited or scared. Link and I have barely been officially engaged a week, yet here we are. Every moment of my time has been consumed with planning. We are to marry on the Day of Falling Stars. Every Royal wedding happens on this day, and we barely have four months to plan one of the biggest weddings of the century. We could technically wait until next year, but neither Link or myself want to wait that long.

"Oh, your highness, are you ready?" The tailor, Aelei, asks.

"Yes, I am." I smile.

"Well, I've had a few designs in the works since your courtship began, and here are what I decided are the best options." The Gerudo motions towards several sketches on the table. "If you would like to combine some of them, we can do that."

I look at the pages in front of me. Each design is incredible, Aelei really outdid herself. My eyes stop. I pick up the paper and look at the details of the design. It's beautiful. I've never seen a dress like it before. My shoulders will be bare, which they never are, but I can deal with that. The sleeves are off the shoulder and flow like water. A design made of lace covers the bodice. The skirt has more volume than I am used to, which leads to a train. It all seems to be trimmed in light gold. "This one."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I am sure."

"We will have to get the king's approval before we begin sewing, but let's go ahead and take your measurements." Why don't they already have these? They've taken them a million times. Apparently, my face shows my annoyance. "I know, but we have to make sure nothing has changed."

-oOo-

Link and I are currently sitting in Caste Town's jewelry store with their jeweler and Impa. "Thank you again, for chosing us to do this."

"You are supposed to be the best in the country, how could we go to anyone else?" I ask.

"Thank you. Do you know what color of gold you want?"

"Yes, we would like it to match this." I quickly take off my engagement ring and show it to the man.

"I never thought that I would see this." He comments offhandedly. "This would be the 18-karat yellow gold, I believe. It's incredible this ring has lasted this long at that karat. The higher the karat, the weaker the gold. It must be enchanted somehow."

"I believe it is, it shrunk once I put it on. It must be enchanted to last forever and resize itself." I agree. After so many magic wielders wearing it, it must be enchanted, even if by accident.

"That is incredible." He hands me back the ring. I quickly replace it on my finger and retake my fiancé's hand. "Here. This book has all of the ring designs. The page is split down the middle, the female version is on the left with the male equivalent on the right."

We graciously take the book and start flipping through. One might expect for us to choose the most expensive option, seeing as money is no issue for us. But those are often just gaudy, expensive due only to the number of jewels crammed onto them. It takes a while, and we discuss many of the options, but ultimately, we make a decision. It's rather simple, a gold band with vines engraved on them, leading to three jewels in the middle. An emerald, a ruby, and a sapphire all sit proudly, representing the three golden goddesses. "We would like it if you could possibly have the order of the jewels be different. On my ring, I would like to have the sapphire in the middle."

"And I would like the emerald."

"Of course." He takes the book and makes a few notes. "Here, we need to know your size." He hands us a loop with many rings in different sizes.

"We have something else." I admit as Link tries to find his size. "We are planning to honor a Rito tradition in the ceremony. The tradition calls for necklaces made out of the couple's feathers, which we obviously don't have. So, we thought that we would make charms to stand in the place of the feathers. We wish to make them ourselves. What do you suggest that we do?"

"Well, it would probably not be wise for you to be dealing with molten gold. So, we have a few options. You can each take a block of wax and carve it into the charm. We will then make a mold out of this and melt the wax away so that we can pour the metal in. This is called the lost-wax process. I also could give you some gold wire that you can just bend into shape."

I look at my fiancé. He hands the man back the loop, so he can write down the ring size. "Which do you prefer?"

"The lost-wax would probably look better."

"Probably." I agree. "It would be a lot heavier, though."

"Does that really matter?"

"For the chain it does." The man replies and hands me the loop.

"I think we should still go with the lost-wax way. It will look better, and we will have more options in what we can make." The wire would be rather limiting.

"Then I will go and get you everything you will need. Just return whenever you're done with it. You should probably give us at least a month to make sure it's clean and finished correctly. It's also possible that we'll have to try a few times to get them to turn out right." He disappears into the back.

"Do you know what you're going to make?" I ask.

"I have an idea."

"Don't tell me, I want it to be a surprise."

"What's with you and surprises recently? First my proposal had to be a surprise, now this."

"I guess my life has been so monotonous recently that I just want something to be new and exciting."

"And our engagement isn't that?"

"Can't I just want a surprise?!"

"Is everything at weddings a surprise? The dress is a surprise, I'm assuming my clothes will be as well, I can't see you before the ceremony, the necklaces are going to be a surprise."

"Hopefully that's all of the surprises. The last thing that we're going to want is something unexpected to happen." The jeweler returns with multiple blocks of wax and what I guess are boxes of carving tools.

-oOo-

"You need to be looser. If you're too stiff, you could get hurt."

"Sorry, just with everything happening. The stress is getting to me."

"Anything I can do?" He asks, sheathing his sword.

"Not unless you can control time and skip us ahead until the wedding."

"I wish I could."

"Me, too. Alright, let's get back to this. I haven't done anything but plan in so long."

"Release some of the tension in your shoulders." Link places his hands on my shoulders. "And your neck." His hands move up to my neck, and his thumbs tilt my jaw up.

"And my lips?"

"And your lips." The corner of his mouth lifts. My eyelids flutter shut as he presses his lips to mine.

"Well," Link and I jump apart, "this never happened in my private training." Ryell. "What about you, Aron?"

"Can't say that it did."

"I hate you both." Link deadpans.

"No, you don't." Ryell is a stocky man. He's a few inches shorter than Link, with dark brown hair and eyes. He is rather baby-faced except for the scar on his right cheek.

"Give it another minute." He glares.

"How good with that rapier are you, princess?" Aron eyes my blade. Aron's a Sheikah man. His white hair always in the traditional bun. He's rather tall, apparently, he's almost seven feet tall. Fitting him with armor is awful, or so I've been told.

"I'm decent. It's been a while since I've practiced."

"You think you could take me on?"

"Right now, when all of my brain power is on the wedding, and I haven't slept in a week? No."

"At least you're honest."

"I'm not an idiot. I'm barely trained and exhausted. You're a leader of the Royal Guard."

"I heard you beat him." He nods towards my marquess.

"She tricked me."

"Tricked you?" Ryell laughs.

"I'm the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, I better be able to outsmart basically everyone."

"Zelda?" I turn and see my father. Ryell and Aron drop to their knees.

"Father."

"I need you to come with me." Turns out, he learned about the night we all got drunk and passed out. I was scolded for over an hour.


	19. This is Where We'll Spend Our Life

**AN:**

 **Y'all know.**

I have been working nonstop on this wedding for a month. I have done literally nothing else. As much as I love Link and want to marry him…I am going to go insane. I have had to make decisions about the stupidest things. I had to decide what shade the napkins were going to be. The napkins. I know that planning a wedding is hard work, I know that all of these things matter in some capacity, I knew that this wasn't going to be easy. But I just want to spend some time with my fiancé that doesn't involve making decisions.

I want to be alone with him for a while. Not even talking or kissing, just be with him. If it would not cause a lot of outrage, I probably would have tried to convince him to elope with me. But, that would not end well. Ow!

"Sorry, your highness." One of the seamstress's apprentices noticed my flinch.

"It's fine." I assure the young girl.

"Do you want to see his suit?" Aelei asks.

"My dress is supposed to be a surprise, I would like his suit to be as well." She nods and goes back to pinning the sleeves.

"I'm very pleased with how this is coming out." Aelei admits. "I fear that you never quite know when you're making a dress from scratch. Patterns really are a lifesaver."

"I chose the most difficult dress, didn't I?"

"No, no, there were a few far more difficult." She assures me. "I am glad you chose this one. I thought that you would choose another one, but I hoped for this one."

"Why?"

"Because unlike all the other dresses, this one is different from what I normally make. All of the other designs were in some capacity based off of dresses I have made in the past. This one is new and exciting. It also makes it more special."

"It is lovely."

"I can't believe the king approved it."

"He informed me that if it was up to him, you would be covering every inch of skin."

-oOo-

"Now, there is the matter of your suite." Father leans back in his chair.

"Suite?" Link asks.

"Did you expect to be staying in your current room by the barracks?"

"No sir."

"If you would both follow me, I will show you to your suite." Father gets up and rounds the desk. "It's almost done, we've been working on it since your courtship began." How did I not know this?

We follow him down the long hallways of the castle, to the wing where my current room is. Okay, there is no excuse for me not noticing them working on this. Father takes out a key and opens the door.

The workers are not present right now, but some of their supplies is still here. "Feel free to look around for a while, I have another meeting to attend to. I'm leaving you alone, remember there are guards at the end of the hall. I am trusting you." Father presses the key into my palm. "Don't do anything you wouldn't do if I were present."

"Yes father." I nod, and he leaves.

A large fireplace takes up most of the left wall. A couch and set of chairs make a semicircle around it. It seems that all the workers are doing now is assembling the furniture. A small dining table is near the other wall. There are two slightly ajar doors on the wall opposite the entrance. Our rooms.

I don't say anything, just walk towards the door on the left. Link silently follows. Judging by the vanity, this is meant to be my room. The large bed is unmade, though the Rito down mattress is already here. I wander to the door on the left. I know very well where the door to the right leads. Link stays in the main bedroom, looking around.

My bathroom. The pump and bathtub are ready. They really are basically done. Other than the fabric pieces, like towels, curtains, and blankets, everything seems to be here. Well, and all of my stuff. I reenter my bedroom and look in the other door on the left, my closet. There's a balcony opposite the entrance, but that doesn't really matter. All that's left is the other bedroom. His room. I may have to explain this.

For once it's him who walks over and opens the door. He walks inside, and yep…I'm going to have to explain this. "Why are there two bedrooms?"

"It is a common practice amongst nobility. Each person has their own bedroom that connects to the other's. I was told once that it was for birth control. Though that doesn't make much sense to me due to how easy it is to just walk into the other room. I believe that it has a lot to do with most marriages being arranged, and most couples not being particularly fond of each other."

"Then why do we have them?"

"It's basically required." I shrug. "While we don't technically have to use both rooms, really who's going to force us to, it is not surprising that they would be provided for us."

"It is to me."

"I assume most people not of nobility don't have separate rooms."

"No."

"We don't have to use them both. We can just use one and ignore the other one."

"Really?"

"Well, we might use the other one for some things. Like when we're getting dressed or both want to bathe at the same time. You are also going to be having a valet."

"A what?"

"A man who helps you get ready, like my maids."

"I can dress myself."

"Clearly, but again, you will be expected to have a valet. A lot of random things are expected of royalty."

"I've noticed." He looks around the room. "We're going to live here."

"That we are." I wrap my arms around him from behind.

"In three months." He turns around, my arms stay around his midsection.

"In three months."

"In three months, we'll be married."

"Yes, we will be." A smile breaks across my face.

"This is a long time coming."

"Considering we've both wanted this for four years, but were too scared to admit it? Some keeper of the Triforce of Courage you are."

"Yes, and you in your infinite wisdom couldn't notice that maybe I wanted to be with you, too."

"You didn't act like it."

"You didn't have to teach me all of those dances. If I didn't want to do that with you, I would have requested one and done."

"The same here."

"We were really dumb teenagers."

"All teenagers are dumb." I remind him.

"Are we still dumb?"

"Yes, but we're less naïve." I stand on my toes and press my mouth to his. His hands move to cup my jaw. We've gotten much better at this. I hold his biceps and touch his lips with my tongue. He gladly opens his mouth, and our kisses deepen. One of his hands drops to my waist and pulls me closer to him. I feel like I'm melting as his kisses begin to get rougher, more urgent. His other hand drops, and I grip onto his shoulder, pulling him even closer to me. His fingers gentle squeeze my waist, and he groans slightly. That's new.

Despite how much we were enjoying ourselves, he pulls away. I pout a little. "I was enjoying that."

"As was I. But we have places to go, and who knows, your father might decide to burst in here any moment." He's right.

"I actually, for once have nowhere to be. But, I probably should go work on my charm."

"Have you decided what you're making?"

"No. I've been so caught up in everything else that I have barely had time to think about it." We start to make our way towards the exit. "What about you?"

"I'm almost done."

"Do you think, depending on how they turn out, that we could continue to wear them, after the wedding?"

"I don't see why not." He shrugs as I lock the door behind us. "Why?"

"I like the idea of having a piece of you over my heart."


	20. A Charm

**AN:**

 **Hi. I am…you know what I am. Or well, what I am not. I'm sorry this is a short chapter.**

 **Okay guys, after this chapter the rating is going to change. Next chapter Link and Zelda are receiving "The Talk", and I want to be accurate in what I say. So, this story will be a "M" after this chapter. Don't worry, if something is going to be said or done, I will have a warning in the AN, and no plot will occur in that chapter, so you won't miss anything by skipping it. Also, I'll post three chapters when there's an "M" chapter. Have fun.**

I stare at the block of green wax on my desk, willing it to become something. I'm still not exactly sure what, but something. I'm sitting in my research office; my maids would have a conniption if they found wax shavings all over my bedroom.

The Triforce? No.

A crown? No.

Something to do with my research? I look around the room, trying to find something that could work as a necklace. Then my eyes land on it, the Silent Princess. The Silent Princess he grew me.

My favorite flower. Though I'm not sure how Link would feel wearing a flower around his neck forever. I can't think of anything better. Plus, I bet his charm will be a sword or a shield, something a princess wouldn't normally wear around her neck.

That's it. I'm going to make a Silent Princess. It's going to take a while, and I'm going to have to be very careful about not letting the pieces break apart, but I can do it.

I set to work. I don't think the filaments and stamen will work. Well, maybe the stamen will. It may be thick enough. But the filaments are much too thin. They'd break off even in gold.

I work until Hannah comes to help me get ready for bed. I currently have the petals carved out individually. I'll melt another bit of wax to attach them.

-oOo-

"What's on the agenda today?" Link asks.

"Something you'll enjoy, cake tasting." He instantly lights up.

"Why didn't we do this one sooner?"

"Because I wanted to get all of the bad stuff done sooner."

"Is all the bad stuff over?"

"It never is."

"Can't we just be married already?"

-oOo-

That night, I work more. I scrape and carve the wax until I have a few leaves I deem acceptable. It takes a few more nights, but I manage to finish the flower. I have to go back to Castle Town soon. I like it. I hope Link will find it acceptable.


	21. The Talk

**AN:**

 **We're skipping to the month of the wedding. This story is already pretty long, so…**

 **I am not Nintendo.**

 **Slight warning, stuff is discussed. Nothing is done, but stuff is discussed, and second-hand embarrassment reigns supreme. If you do manage to get through this chapter, I am going to try to spread some knowledge. I know that American Intercourse Ed sucks, so I'm going to try to give you some knowledge that's kind of important to know. While I have never had intercourse, some of my friends have, and I've done some research. I hope you people appreciate the fact that I legitimately had to sit in my room in my parents' house reading about intercourse, with the threat of them barging in at any moment. Thanks Planned Parenthood website.**

 **Guest who requested this a lot of chapters ago, here you are.**

"Now. Your father has asked me to discuss this with you." Link and I sit in Impa's office. She called us both here for a "conversation". I'm scared. "Seeing as you are going to be married in less than a month, it has been agreed that someone must discuss this matter with you." I'm terrified. "Your father decided that I would be best suited for this task. He did not want to do it, he does not trust Urbosa to do this properly, and no one else on the council volunteered." When did they decide on this?

"This is not necessary." I insist.

"Why?" She raises an eyebrow at me and shoots a glare at my fiancé. "Is there something you've been keeping from me?"

"NO!" Link and I both yell, hands out.

"No, we have not kept anything from you in that regard."

"Good. Good. So, I will not have to change this conversation." Damn it. "I am going to assume that you both know nothing. I am sure that I am wrong, but I would rather not find out what you do know. If you have any questions, please stop me." I'm going to implode. "As the future monarchs of this country, you will be expected to produce an heir. An heir is necessary especially due to the bloodline of the Goddess Hylia being so thin. Guaranteeing that you know how this works is imperative."

Help.

Anyone.

Please.

Why couldn't we do these separately?

Having him sitting next to me, holding my hand, makes this ten times worse.

"There are three main types of intercourse: oral, anal, and vaginal. Debatably, there are other types, but these three are always considered to be intercourse. Vaginal intercourse is the main way that reproduction occurs. It is when the penis penetrates the vagina. Oral intercourse is when one of you uses your mouth on the other's genitals." EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! "Anal intercourse is penetration of the anus by the penis." Half of my thoughts are just screaming. "Anal intercourse can be dangerous due to the lack of natural lubrication. The anal cavity does not produce lubrication the way the vagina does. So, lubrication must be added in order for it to be safer. Extra lubrication may also be necessary for vaginal intercourse. If not properly lubricated, it can hurt.

"A few common misconceptions about vaginal intercourse are: that it's supposed to hurt and that the hymen breaks. The hymen is a thin tissue located near the opening of the vagina. Some believe that it completely covers the entirety of the opening, which is preposterous. There is a hole in the middle of the hymen which allows menstrual blood to pass through. This hole is different sizes for everyone. Some are naturally larger than others. The hymen does not break during intercourse, it stretches. The hole gets wider to accommodate the penis. It can also stretch from other activities such as exercising. It can hurt and result in some bleeding, but it doesn't have to." I can't believe I'm actually learning from this. "Once the hymen is stretched, it does not grow back. If it continues to hurt after the first time, you may have to stretch it over time with your fingers to keep it from hurting.

"As I mentioned before, another reason vaginal intercourse can hurt is lack of proper lubrication. As far as I know neither of you have had any experience with this, which means that this is going to be more difficult. The vagina creates lubrication for this reason. Your body may not produce enough lubrication naturally, which is not uncommon. If this is the case, there are some products which can help. It is wise to wait until you are fully aroused before commencing with vaginal intercourse. By then, there should be enough lubrication so that there is not a problem." How will I know when that is? No, no, I am not going to ask. This needs to be over as quickly as possible. "It is also very important that you, Zelda, go to the bathroom after having intercourse. If you don't, you risk getting an infection." She shifts slightly.

"Now, I am going to deviate from the scientific side of this and just give some advice as someone who is in a sexual relationship. I doubt that the pair of you are going to have sex solely to produce an heir. You're young and in love, you're bound to find this pleasurable." She leans forwards some, breaking her straight-backed position from when she was being official about all of this. "As far as your father and the council knows, the conversation ended with my telling you about how to prevent injury and it takes as long as it does due to you needing more explanation."

Link and I nod. I swallow. This is probably going to get more awkward.

"I'm not supposed to tell you ways to prevent pregnancy. The point of this is supposed to be to tell you how to produce an heir safely. But, I am aware that you probably do not feel ready for children yet. I understand, children are a lot to handle. Pregnancy is a lot to handle. 'Pulling out' is not a very good method of birth control. While ejaculation is the main source of sperm, the penis releases some liquid before ejaculation. This fluid also contains sperm. There is an elixir which prevents pregnancy, it's been made readily available to help with population control. But, you're going to have to sneak around to get some. You're supposed to be producing an heir, not buying things which prevent said heir." She reaches into her desk and pulls out a small box. "I went ahead and got you some if you want it."

She hands me the box, and I open it to find a dozen small bottles filled with dark pink liquid. A small paper lays on top of the bottles. It has instructions about how the elixir works, how often to drink it, warnings, and what it contains. "It's designed to last for a full cycle. So, if you take it at the start of your period, you should be fine."

"A lot of elixirs will cancel out the properties of other's."

"You should be fine. It's been around long enough that they have been able to fix problems like that." I read over the paper before handing it to Link. "As far as I know it hasn't failed in years."

"Thank you." I stare at the bottles.

"If you want me to, I can continue to bring you a supply of this. But, if you wait too long to have a child, people may get suspicious." She's right. A child needs to happen sooner rather than later. "Going back to before. Since I am no longer assuming, but know that you will probably be having sex for pleasure, let me give you some advice. It's going to be awkward for a while. You're not going to know what to do or say. You're just going to have to get comfortable with yourself and each other. But you need to be vocal. If something hurts or feels wrong, stop doing it. If you want to try something, discuss it. You may enjoy something that you didn't think that you would.

"The orgasm is a release of tension. You'll know when it happens. This is normally when ejaculation occurs. It doesn't have to be, but it usually is. Sometimes, when women orgasm some fluid comes out of their vulva, the outside of female genitals, it doesn't have to. This happens to some women, some women it doesn't. Ultimately, the orgasm does not need to be the purpose of sex. The purpose of sex is pleasure. You can do many pleasurable things without an orgasm. If you pressure yourselves to orgasm, you're more likely to not due to the stress of it.

"Something else that you should realize is that vaginal sex does not last very long. Most men only last a few minutes during vaginal sex before ejaculation occurs. And before you ask, all of these generalizations I am making are based off of research done via surveys."

"People are taking surveys of this?" Why? How? How does anyone answer these?

"Yes, they are. We're in an age bursting with research and knowledge. It makes sense that people would want to learn more about it, especially while trying to make it safer. Since I am relatively sure neither of you has slept with anyone before, you are pretty safe when it comes to diseases." She takes a deep breath. "There are some that are genetic, but you would have shown signs of those by now. Zelda, if you wish to try to avoid pain when you first have sex, you could go ahead and start stretching your hymen. There's nothing wrong with pleasuring yourself. Some claim that it's better if you do since you will know what you enjoy. I probably should have asked this earlier, you are both aware of how the other gender's genitalia works, right?" I nod. Thank Hylia, Link does, too.

"Then, I don't have much else to tell you. You two look traumatized enough. Give me back the box." I hand her the box of elixirs and she wraps it up like a present. "Anyone asks, it's a wedding present."

 **So, if you want to hear a really awkward story that happened to me once, continue reading. So, my church doesn't really have any Sunday School classes for college students. That means that I just go to Sunday School with my parents. Well, they've been watching a video series. Last week, the story was Samson and Delilah. I was sitting in between my parents while this preacher was talking about sex. This man declared that, "men need only three things in life: food, sex, and a pat on the head every once in a while. And, if they had to choose one, most men would starve." I was screaming internally for like an hour.**


	22. The Kidnapping of the Bride

**AN:**

 **Let's get this show on the road. I am not Nintendo.**

Less than forty-eight hours.

Less than forty-eight hours and I'll be married.

Aaaaaaahhhhhh.

I'm going to go insane.

We all are.

Everyone's running around like mad trying to get in all of the last-minute details. We just had the rehearsal. "You two say goodbye, you're not seeing each other until the ceremony." Urbosa waits at the end of my hallway.

"Next time we see each other, I'll be walking down the aisle."

"That you will be." He leans down and kisses me. "I love you."

"I love you, too." I kiss him again.

"You'll have all the time in the world to do that stuff later, now you need to sleep." Urbosa says over her shoulder.

"Goodnight." Link tells me.

"Goodnight." I kiss him long and slow. "I'll see you soon. Love you."

"Love you, too."

-oOo-

"What exactly does 'the kidnapping of the bride' imply?"

"Normally we would take you to Gerudo Town and have a spa day. But that's much too far. So, we could just sit around and do nothing, or we could have a makeshift spa day here. I can warp home and back real quick to get the supplies."

"You know what, that sounds lovely. But, why did you describe it as a party when you first mentioned it?"

"Sometimes it is, but that generally isn't a good idea because the last thing you need on your wedding day is a hangover. Normally we just call is a party to tease the voe, make them think something really big is happening, and they're being left out."

"That's awful!" I laugh.

"But it works." She smirks and stands up. "Well, I better go get everything before the others arrive."

-oOo-

"How are you feeling?" Mipha asks. We're still waiting for Urbosa to arrive with all of her stuff.

"Ready for all of this worrying and stress to be over."

"That's understandable." Impa nods. "Weddings are tough."

"Come in!" I call as someone knocks on the door.

"You asked for me?" Alisse sticks her head in.

"Yes, come in. We're having a spa day, and I thought that you would like to join us."

"Really?" The young girl starts to beam.

"You are going to be my sister. I want to spend time with you."

"Mom apologizes for not coming. Her and dad are with the king, making all of the last-minute things."

"Well, weddings take a lot." I pat the spot on the bed next to me. "Sit down. And how have you been the past few days?"

"I'm fine. I've mostly just been practicing for the reception." We asked Alisse to play a song at the reception.

"I'm sure that you'll do wonderfully." I place my hand on her shoulder. "And you're going to make a beautiful Maid of Honor."

"I'm back!" Urbosa bursts into the room with an armful of stuff. "Sorry that took a while."

"What did take you so long?"

"A lizalfos got into town."

"What? How? You have guards everywhere." Impa asks.

"It burrowed under the wall. It happens from time to time." She drops the stuff on my vanity. "I've got a lot of stuff. Sorry Mipha, I don't think any of it will work for you, and I don't want to risk it."

"I brought some stuff from home." Mipha assures her.

"Oh, hello Alisse."

"Hello Lady Urbosa."

"I did not realize that you were going to be here. I'm going to have to censor myself now."

"You know what, Alisse. I am going to keep you around me always now."

"Oh, ha ha." Urbosa rolls her eyes.

"Where's Siriah?" Purah asks.

"With Sauron."

-oOo-

Later that night, after Alisse had to go to bed, Impa, Purah, and Mipha excuse themselves. We've spent all day "pampering" ourselves, especially me. I've had a bunch of masks on my face and many oils and creams in my hair. Now, Urbosa and I are sitting on my bed.

"I am proud of you, little vai." She's combing my wet hair.

"Thank you."

"You've chosen a worthy voe. I wouldn't have given my blessing to anyone else." She begins to section off pieces of my hair to curl.

"I know."

"I know that you aren't going to want to talk about this, but someone needs to talk to you about it, and it certainly will not be your father. But tomorrow night, after you and Link return to your suite…"

"I know how it works, Urbosa. Impa had a loooong talk with Link and I about it."

"Any questions?"

"No."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay then." She continues to pin my hair onto my head, making small talk and gossiping. Apparently, someone caught Duke Narkell's son with a maid in a compromising position. "Goodnight, little vai."

"Goodnight." She pins the last piece of hair to my head and hugs me. "Sleep well."

"I will." I assure her. The door closes behind her and I blow out all of the candles except the one by my bed. Once I'm in bed, I blow out the candle and lie back down.

I'm getting married tomorrow.

I'm marrying the man I've loved for years.

We're going to be married and be together forever.

With no chaperones.


	23. The Happiest Day

**AN:**

 **WEDDING DAY, BITCHES! You know the deal, poor college student. Also, only one chapter today, but it's the wedding.**

I do not believe that I have ever witnessed such an onslaught of emotions. Considering that it is my wedding day, I should not be surprised. However, it is not Link or myself experiencing these emotions. No, it is literally everyone else.

My father is practically in tears because his "little girl is all grown up and getting married".

Urbosa is a mess for basically the same reason.

Daruk is so happy I fear for the building. Gorons have an... interesting way of expressing emotion.

Revali is Revali. Though he is being slightly more amiable.

Mipha. I'm sorry. She's doing as well as one can expect. She's smiling and happy to help, but there's still a sadness in her eyes.

"We have seven hours until the ceremony." Urbosa announces. Seven hours. Getting me ready is going to take six and a half.

My handmaidens are preparing my room as I soak in the bath.

"Are you ready?" Urbosa asks.

"For what? To get out?" I ask.

"No." She snorts from the other side of the screen, shielding me from view. "To get married."

"Of course I am. I said yes to him after all."

"That doesn't mean you're completely ready. Marriage is a strange thing. It changes you, hopefully for the better. Link has become a good man and will treat you properly, which we have all known for a long time. But, that does not mean that hiccups will not occur."

"You decide to inform me of the hardships of marriage on my wedding day?" I ask.

"Just making conversation." She argues. "I am happy for you."

-oOo-

The next few hours were a blur. I was sat down and promptly covered with every cream, powder, gel, liquid, etc. in the world. My hair was taken down and pinned into place. My skin was tormented by layers of special Gerudo makeup. Yet, somehow, when I looked in the mirror after they finished. I hardly look different.

My cheekbones are slightly more defined and lightly rose colored. My eyelids shimmered. My eyelashes grew. My lips were darker than normal.

But otherwise, I look the same.

"Beautiful, absolutely perfect. You're positively glowing." Urbosa declares. She's been standing to the side, getting herself ready and conversing with me. "Link isn't going to know what hit him."

"Thank you." I see a glint in her eye which I do not like.

"Between this and the dress, he may decide to skip the ceremony and go straight to the night."

"URBOSA!"

"Yes?" She asks, completely innocent. "Perhaps upon seeing him, you may have the same idea."

"URBOSA!" Her laugh is strong, and covers up the giggles from my handmaidens.

"Though I do wish him luck getting you out of that dress. Between all of the corsets and buttons, he would have one heck of a time."

"You know that he isn't going to be." I roll my eyes.

"No, but it is funny to think about. I'm just imagining him being overwhelmed for once in his life, desperately trying to figure out how stays work."

"Well, he won't have to. I'll be out of that dress long before he joins me tonight."

"Are you ready for tonight?"

"After that long talk you gave me last night and the one Impa gave us, I better be."

"Knowing how it all works and being prepared for it are two different things."

"Can we please stop talking about this?"

"I just want to make sure you are ready, because I'm quite sure that, even without having to figure out stays, your former knight is going to be overwhelmed."

-oOo-

The ceremony is about to begin. My father is on my left, practically in tears, holding my arm. My right hand holds a large bouquet of flowers (including a few Silent Princesses).

Urbosa is getting everyone into position.

Mipha is smiling sadly.

My handmaidens are arranging my train and veil.

And Link is waiting for me on the other side of that door.

"Is something wrong, my dear?"

"No, father, nothing is wrong."

"You just appear uneasy."

"Nerves, I guess."

"That's normal." He assures me. "Today is one of the biggest days of your life. I would be worried if you weren't nervous."

"Your Majesty, I believe that we are ready." Hannah informs my father.

"Well, now we just wait for the clock."

"Oh, little vai, you are far from little now, aren't you?" Urbosa turns to me.

"I am still rather short." She laughs at my pathetic joke.

"You are so grown up, I am proud of you." She hugs me tightly and the clock strikes five. "Ready?" I nod. "Good."

The doors swing open and the three young relatives of our champions lead the processional. Siriah is flanked by Sidon and Hyeis. Siriah scatters flower petals down the aisle. Hyeis holds our wedding rings, and Sidon carries Link's crown.

Next is Mipha, carrying a tradition of her people.

Impa follows her.

Urbosa goes next.

Then Alisse, who looks traumatized. The doors close quickly behind her, as to not reveal me yet. But once she makes it to the front, the music changes, wood creaks as everyone stands, and the doors swing open.

Now it is my turn. Father and I begin our walk towards the altar. There are hundreds and hundreds of people. People of every race and creed are represented. Friends and family all gathered here to celebrate.

But I don't see them, no, I see the handsome man waiting for me at the altar. His long hair pulled into a low ponytail, held together by a satin ribbon. His suit as brilliantly white as my gown.

Urbosa may have been right. But then I notice something else.

The Master Sword is strapped to his back with a white and gold harness instead of his old brown one.

He went and got it back for today.

My smile grows and steps gain confidence each moment as I get closer to him. I've never seen him this happy before either.

He grinned when I agreed to allow him to court me and kiss me properly for the first time.

He smiled when I told him I loved him.

He beamed when I said yes to his proposal.

But the look on his face now blows each of those looks away.

I feel as though I am floating just above the floor.

Then suddenly I am at the steps leading to the altar.

"Who is it that presents this woman to be married?" The bishop asks.

"I, the Kingdom of Hyrule, and her mother in the realm of spirits do." Father answers. He kisses my cheek and hugs me tightly. "I love you and couldn't be happier for you."

"I love you, too." He releases me and moves to stand to the side.

"Now, would the representative of each race please step forward and bless this marriage?"

"I, Impa, leader of the Sheikah tribe, bless the marriage of Princess Zelda and Lord Link on behalf of my tribe."

"I, Daruk, leader of the Gorons, bless the marriage of Princess Zelda and Lord Link on behalf of my people."

"I, Mipha, princess of the Zora, bless the marriage of Princess Zelda and Lord Link on behalf of my people."

"I, Revali, champion of the Rito, bless the marriage of Princess Zelda and Lord Link on behalf of my people."

"I, Urbosa, chief of the Gerudo, bless the marriage of Princess Zelda and Lord Link on behalf of my people."

"I, Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule, father of the bride and king of all Hyrule, bless the marriage of Princess Zelda and Lord Link on behalf of my people." For the first time in years, he was my father before he was the king.

"If anyone can give plausible reason that these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace." Nothing. Good. "Then let us pray. Dear Goddesses of old, lead this man and woman in sanctified matrimony. Let them have the wisdom of Nayru in their decisions, the courage of Farore in the face of adversity, and the power of Din as they rule over this kingdom. Let Hylia guide them in all that they do. Amen."

The wedding proceeded as any marriage ceremony would, we exchanged vows to love and honor each other, exchanged rings, and now we're going to honor the traditions of the Zora and Rito.

"It has been a longstanding tradition amongst the Zora, that during the ceremony, the bride and groom take bottles of water from where they grew up and combine them in a larger bottle. This is to symbolize the joining of the two and that nothing can separate them." She places the large bottle on the alter and hands Link and I our bottles. The brim of the large bottle is wide enough for us to pour the water in at the same time. Though the waters look no different, one is from the pond in the garden of the castle, and the other is from Hateno village. Link returned to the place of his birth about a week ago to go collect the water. The waters mix and combine before our eyes. "With the waters of the castle and Hateno combined, we wish you this: may you be as the water, and never separate."

"During a Rito wedding, necklaces made of feathers from the bride and groom are exchanged. The necklace hangs over the heart, symbolizing that this is where their partner belongs. Since quite obviously this bride and groom do not possess feathers, we have altered the tradition to charms they made. Each made a charm representing themselves to give to the other." He opens the white box and we each take our necklaces. "Princess Zelda made a Silent Princess, her favorite flower. Lord Link made the Master Sword, because he is so incredibly creative." Even at our wedding. Though a few people do chuckle.

Link bows slightly as I place the chain over his head. The charm hangs just at his heart. I don't have to bow my head, but the veil is going to get in the way. I will just have to fix that later.

"May you stay in each other's hearts always."

The ceremony then continues and eventually…

"By the power invested in me by the goddess, Hylia, and the kingdom of Hyrule, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride." He doesn't waste a moment and neither do I. Applause echoes around us, but I don't hear it. We eventually pull away for decency's sake. He rests his forehead on mine and smiles broadly.

After that, there is the matter of Link's coronation. It's a simple affair, seeing as he is only going to be "His Royal Highness" and not the Prince Consort yet. He swears to lead justly and wisely, and, when the time comes, to rule beside me. Father places the crown on his head, and he rises.

"Now presenting," we turn to face everyone, "Princess Zelda Minerva Hyrule and His Royal Highness Link Allard Hyrule."

Link and I lead the processional as we exit the cathedral, smiling and laughing as we go. Eventually we end up in a carriage. It is going to take a few minutes for everyone to be ready to head back towards the castle. At some point Hannah fixed my necklace and veil.

"We're married." I laugh and kiss him again.

"That we are." He laughs as well and pulls me closer.

We stay silent for a while, with me practically in his lap, and our foreheads touching. We mostly just stare at each other in awe, though we do kiss a couple of times.

Then the carriage begins moving. We were so unprepared for it that I almost fall, just causing us to laugh more. As much as I would like to be alone with him for a long time right now, the streets of Castle Town are filled with people waiting to see us.

It's an uncovered carriage, so we don't have to wave out of small windows. Each of the Champions (minus Daruk) Are riding on horseback in front of us. Daruk is walking. Thankfully for him, the ride back to the castle is supposed to be slow, so that everyone has a chance to see us.

I wave and smile and hold tightly to Link's hand. My father and in-laws are in the carriage behind us.

-oOo-

When we do make it to the castle, a grand ball is waiting for us. Most of the guests were able to make it here before we did due to everyone in the kingdom wanting to see us.

"You two wait here, your father will announce you when it is time." Urbosa says as she places us in a room outside the Sanctum. "It should be around twenty minutes, to make sure that everyone has arrived of course." She winks at us as she leaves. A handmaiden appears out of one of the secret corridors to take my veil, fix my crown, and bring me a more comfortable pair of shoes.

Then we are finally completely alone. "You got the sword."

"I felt that it was appropriate today. Better than the ceremonial sword I was given."

"I am not complaining, though you are going to have to take it off for the actual reception."

"I know."

"I can't believe that we're actually here. For so long it seems that everything has been leading up to this, and it's finally here."

"Thank Hylia it is because I'm not sure that any of us would have lasted another week of preparation." He jokes.

"Oh goddesses, that would not have been fun. But it's worth it."

"Yes, it is." He pulls me close and touches his nose to mine. "You're very much worth it."

"As are you." I pull him to me by his collar, destroying any space between us. We begin to kiss more desperately, but then I have a moment of clarity. "Wait, wait. My father is going to announce us any minute now, and I have a face-full of makeup."

"I hate that you're right."

"We'll have all the time in the world for the next two weeks to be by ourselves." I kiss him lightly again and turn to the mirror, fixing any makeup which may have smudged.

"You're beautiful. I'm sure the goddesses themselves are jealous of you right now." He wraps his arms around me from behind and kisses my cheekbone.

Then the constant sound coming from the throne room ceases. "It's time to go." I pull him over to the doors which will open any moment.

"Thank you all for your attendance today of my daughter's marriage. We thank you for your support of my daughter and son-in-law." He keeps going for a few minutes before finally announcing us. The doors swing open as two knights pull them, and we enter to deafening applause.

The dinner is a blur, I'm barely aware of anything. I know that Link and I feed each other bites of food and kiss every so often. I don't really know why, we obviously can feed ourselves. But, it's something that, as far as I can tell, is just done at weddings. The bride and groom feed each other.

"Are you ready for the first dance?" I ask my husband.

"I don't think I've ever been happier to dance in front of people." He admits.

"Well, all of the plates are gone. It's time for us to go." I look around at the people staring at us. He takes my hand and leads me to the middle of the room. We look over at my maid of honor at the piano and nod. She begins playing, and the elska is being performed for the first time in a generation.

We turn and glide and sweep across the floor in perfect sync. His grip on my waist tightens as he pulls me closer to him. Our noses and foreheads touch, our crowns clink together, and everyone else melts away. My eyes flutter shut as I focus on him. The sense of sight being too much for me. "I love you."

"I love you, too." I whisper back.

The song ends, and everyone applauds. The band quickly starts up and other couples join us. Urbosa and Sauron. My parents-in-law. A million other pairs swarm around us. The rest of the night happens. I know that there's cake, the Gorons sing, and Impa hands us a blanket. Really, I don't pay a lot of attention. I'm just kind of swept along.


	24. Awkward

**AN:**

 **Well, the wedding is done. Now, our lovely couple gets what they've craved for so long. Time alone. Nothing bad this chapter. I am not Nintendo.**

 **Guest: This is the last upload of this story specifically, but I have a series of one-shots I'm working on which take place in this universe. It's called** ** _The World Around Me_** **(working title). So, if you want more you can turn to that. I already have one chapter up (soon to be two).**

Tradition can be an awkward thing. Especially when the tradition dictates that the entire wedding party plus the most honored guests follow the couple to their new home, or in our case, suite. We left the reception, though the celebrations will continue throughout the night, and are now just outside the door of where we will spend the rest of our lives.

Link carries me in his arms over the threshold and places me down on the other side. Our um...guests applaud, and then we all stand there for a moment, with an awkward silence hanging heavily in the air before Link just kind of closes the door in the King of Hyrule's face. I hear a whistle, most likely coming from Urbosa, Daruk's laughter, and someone else saying something too muffled to understand. We then stand there silently a few moments longer and listen to their retreating footsteps.

"I need to get changed." I lament. "I'm quite sure if I stay in this corset any longer I will faint."

"Okay, I'll...um...change as well, don't want to destroy clothes I'm only going to ever wear once." Destroy?

"Yes. I'll call for my maids and your valet."

"I'm fine. I can do it on my own."

"Yes, but they will want to take your clothes and my dress somewhere safe, we still have that portrait sitting."

…

…

…

…

…

"I'm going to go change now." I leave the large sitting room quickly and go to my bedroom. What is wrong with us? We're married, have known each other for years, and practically went through Hell together. Yet now we're two awkward children unsure of what comes next?

I look around my new bedroom, it is much larger than my old one, as is everything inside of it. Wait, what's that? I walk over to my bed where a strange box lays.

 _Dear little vai,_

 _I thought that this may come in handy tonight. One last Gerudo tradition._

 _Love,_

 _Urbosa._

I could practically see her wink as she called it a "Gerudo tradition". I don't want to look in. I know that whatever it is is going to make me feel more awkward than I already do.

I pull the chord which calls for my handmaidens and they quickly rush in to help me get out of this dress. "What do you wish to change into?"

"Um..." I'm already down to my corset and other underthings. "My white nightdress I suppose." I hear the two youngest ones giggle. "Do you have a better suggestion?"

"Lady Urbosa told us to make sure you used her gift." Of course, she did. And of course, she would tell the two younger ones who would not argue with her.

"I haven't even looked inside." I admit.

My lead maid, Hannah, walks over to the box and opens it, I follow closely behind. Oh no.

-oOo-

A long time later, after all of my handmaidens are gone, my hair is down, the makeup is off, Urbosa's gift is beneath my white nightdress and robe, a knock sounds at the door. "Enter."

My husband cracks the door open. "Are you decent?" I laugh at the question.

"And what if I was not? What if I was sitting here, completely naked? What would that change?" He doesn't reply, but does enter.

He looks much more comfortable than I. He's wearing a loose-fitting, open shirt, trousers, an open robe, and the Silent Princess necklace, and has taken his hair down so that it hangs freely. I like it. He still doesn't wear his hair down often enough for my liking.

He still stands awkwardly in the doorway.

"Oh come in." I roll my eyes. "So, what do you want to do now? We could call for food, sit by the fire..." Go to bed.

"How about we get some food," I knew it, "we haven't been able to eat much today." True. The food we ate at the reception was far from filling.

"You are still a glutton, aren't you?" I smile, remembering one of the first things I ever learned about him.

He laughs slightly before pulling me by the hand into the sitting room. I make sure my robe is tied tightly around me as we sit down on the love-seat.

"Well, what do you want?" I ask leaning heavily into his side.

"I don't really care." He shakes his head.

Eventually we decide to get some tea, some array of fruit, and see if they will bring us any of our wedding cake. It is also decided that he will be the one answering the door when they show up to take our order and when they deliver it. No one else can see me like this. No one.

Once our food arrives, we lay everything out on the plush rug in front of the fire and feed each other bits of cake and fruit and drink the champagne the maids decided to bring instead of tea. Maybe they had the right idea, maybe getting a little bit drunk would be a good thing for us. A little bit, I'm not going through that hangover again.

"So, what did you do yesterday?" He sips at his drink.

"We had a spa day. Urbosa brought stuff from Gerudo Town and we pampered ourselves. What did you do?"

"Get made fun of, a lot. Ryell, Aron, Daruk, Revali, Sauron, every man in existence it seemed, came to speak with me about a lot of things. The ones I know better teased me. Aron and Ryell tried to give me advice."

"What about?" I lean into his chest.

"What do you think?" My cheeks heat up at the realization. "They've been giving me 'tips' since we began courting."

"Have you used any of these 'tips'?"

"Probably, subconsciously. I didn't actively do anything they told me."

"I did one. Since, for some reason the number of handmaiden I have is ever-increasing, they have all given me advice. A few of them told me about the open-mouth kisses. I didn't really ever think about those as existing. But, kissing was not something I often thought about." We sit in silence for a while after that, just enjoying each other's company.

"How are you feeling?" He asks.

"I don't really know. I wish we would get over this awkwardness. We've been in situations before that could be deemed compromising, why are we acting so silly now?"

"We've never set out to be in those situations before." He reminds me. "Tonight, we know exactly what we're trying to do, and it's an awkward subject."

"What do you think we should do then?" I play with his hair, his head in my lap. He reaches up and lightly touches the necklace I am still wearing.

"Not think."

"Well that's simple." I roll my eyes.

"I'm serious, we're overthinking everything and it's making us feel bad."

I make a point of refilling our champagne flutes. "Then I'm going to need more of this." He laughs and sits up, accepting his own glass.


	25. The Wedding Night

**AN:**

 **Warning: chapter is not safe for kiddos, though I am well aware that you will probably read it anyway.**

 **Second Warning: I am a sad, lonely virgin who has never even been on a date. Also, American Sex Ed sucks. What I know of sex comes from other fanfics, tumblr, Planned Parenthoood's website, and my friends who have had sex. So this should be interesting.**

 **Still not Nintendo.**

 **If you don't want to read the smut, just skip this chapter.**

By the time my husband and I finish the bottle we are at least tipsy. We aren't so drunk that we can't walk straight, and we're not going to remember this in the morning, but anything holding us back from each other is loooooooooong gone.

Currently, we are still spread out on the rug by the fire, with the last remnants of champagne in our glasses and the cake and fruit basically gone. "Better?"

"Extremely, though I do not envy myself in the morning."

"It shouldn't be too bad." He promises.

"I don't believe you. I don't have a very high tolerance."

"You're small, it makes since that you wouldn't." We sit quietly for a while longer, watching the flames and internally debating what to do next. Then, suddenly, my husband picks up the empty champagne flutes, bottle, and plates and walks over to the large table, placing them where they won't break, before returning to me with a determined look in his eye which excites me.

He leans in and begins to kiss me. His kisses are gentle and soft, not what I was expecting. He's kneeling and I'm sitting, so he pulls me up by my shoulders and pulls me towards him tightly. That's closer to what I was expecting.

His lips move from my mouth to my cheek to my ear and down to my neck. I gasp slightly, he hasn't done this before. He chuckles against my skin and begins to lightly suck just below my ear. I gasp again. This should be fun. I tangle my hands in his hair and pull him closer to me.

He works his way down my neck and to the collar of my robe. He pulls back and looks me in the eye. I nod, and he slips the robe off my shoulder and resumes his onslaught on my neck. My breath quickens with each moment and each time he finds somewhere particularly sensitive it is taken away.

I want to try something. I lightly lick the tip of his ear, and he freezes. His immediate reaction spurs my confidence and I begin to tease his neck like he has done to me. I see his eyes flutter shut and his head tilts back slightly. Good. I make my way around his neck and jawline, paying particular attention to anywhere that gives me a greater reaction. Though he does not seem to be as sensitive as I am, he does have a fair amount of points that make him jump.

He then tilts me over, picking me up so that my shins and feet are not stuck beneath us and looms over me. I gently place my hand on his cheek, and he turns his head to kiss my palm. "I love you."

"I love you, too." He assures me as he leans over to kiss me properly. I clutch onto his shirt collar and pull him as close to me as possible.

"We should probably go to a bedroom." I don't particularly feel like losing my virginity on the floor.

"Which one?"

"I don't care." I kiss his neck again, breathless. He scoops me up in his arms and carries me to the closer door. Alright, my room. I continue to kiss his neck and jawline and feel a slight rumble from him. I focus my efforts on that spot and feel his arms shake.

"Let me put you down first. I don't want to drop you." I stop sucking on his neck, and he places me down on the bed. My robe has come mostly undone, and he can see almost everything underneath. His breathing gets funny, and he looks ready to tackle me. He takes his robe off, and I decide that I am done waiting and pull him down with me.

He makes a noise comparable to a yelp, and I laugh before latching my lips back to that spot on his jaw. I feel him slowly work my robe from my shoulders and start pulling his shirt up his back. I release his jaw to fully pull the bothersome fabric off of him.

He takes this opportunity to fully remove my robe and I am left in whatever this is. It must be the shortest nightgown I have ever worn. I would honestly consider it a blouse more than a dress. It stops at the middle of my thigh, though it has ridden up and he can see the majority of my legs. One of the thin ribbons holding it up has fallen off and hangs around my bicep.

One of his calloused hands starts off at my shoulder and glides down my side until it lands at my waist. His hand slips under my back and he pulls me closer to him.

I hear him gasp slightly as our hips touch, and he begins to feel for the bottom of my skirt. He manages to grab my bottom in the process. I gasp loudly at the surprise, and he chuckles heartily. Two can play at that game. I arch my body to be flush to his and he moans slightly. Now it is my turn to laugh. He takes this opportunity to grab onto the hem of my dress and looks at me. "May I?"

Don't think.

I don't verbally reply, can't bring myself to do it, but I nod and sit up. He slowly pulls the dress up and over my head, leaving me in nothing but Urbosa's gift.

I fear that my poor husband may have stopped breathing entirely. "Link?"

"Remind me to thank Urbosa." No! But before I can protest he's kissing me again.

I moan as he drags his lips over my skin. I run my fingers through his hair as he eventually makes his way down to my chest, still covered by the white garb. His confidence seems to have grown, but he still asks for my permission. He seems focused. His warm hands hold onto my breasts, gently massaging them. He gauges my reactions and focuses on my nipples. Even with the fabric between our skin I still gasp and moan.

He looks like he's debating something and then places his hand at the bottom of my breasts, right on the hem. I nod slightly and he begins to pull the lacy fabric up off of my breasts. I hear him mutter something as my chest comes into full view. I sit up and finish taking the itchy fabric off.

I swear I hear him mutter, "The Goddesses have blessed me."

My cheeks heat up, even in my inebriated state, my modesty is still somewhat intact.

Apparently, he notices because he is soon kissing me again, distracting me from having my chest bare to a man for the first time. My erect nipples rub against his skin, causing us both to moan slightly. I run my hands over his torso, feeling each muscle constrict and loosen beneath my touch, each scar that he earned from his years as a knight.

He's exploring me in a similar way, warm hands fondling my breasts, and he breaks our intense lip-lock. He stares at me intently, and then his mouth is on my breast.

I moan loudly, which spurs him on as he lathers my chest with attention. Goddesses above, I was not aware that this would feel so good.

He releases my right breast and starts focusing on the left. The sudden coldness on the wetness he left behind causes me to wiggle slightly as my nipple somehow erects itself more.

He licks and nips and sucks on my breasts until I am sure I have a bruise forming. Not that I am complaining, of course. The heat forming between my thighs is proof enough that I am enjoying it.

Though I am pretty sure that I might pull his hair out with how much I have tugged at it.

He moves farther down my body, nipping at each of my hipbones and looks me in the eye once again. I know he wants to take my last remaining article of clothing off, but why did he move his head down so far?

Don't think.

I nod, despite my slightly confusion. Now I am completely bare to him. His breathing gets funny as he looks over my naked body. "You're so beautiful." He lunges up and kisses my lips.

I then have the realization that he is still clothed. I somehow roll us over so that he is lying on his back with me straddling him. His eyes grow wide, and he doesn't seem to know how that happened.

I shift away from him and begin undoing his trousers. I manage to get them down to his knees before he kicks them off. He still has his underwear on, but I quickly rectify that and almost wish I hadn't.

I know about male genitalia. I researched many different animals, I had to know something. But diagrams and having the actual thing in front of you are completely different. His erect penis stands perpendicular to his lying body. It's veiny and a different color than the rest of his skin. I'm not going to sit here and measure his penis, but it appears to be of average size. I probably shouldn't analyze it.

Oh Hylia, this is going to be interesting. I look at my husband's face, he's as red as I was when he rid me of all of my clothing.

Don't think.

I promptly straddle his abdomen and kiss his mouth, making sure to keep distance between our um...private parts.

He rolls us back over and his kisses get stronger, more possessive.

Don't think.

I wrap my arms tightly around his back and arc up slightly to meet him. He tugs at my bottom lip with his teeth.

He starts to kiss his way down my body, stopping at my breasts as he places a hand on my...screw it...on my vulva. I whimper slightly as he inserts a finger into me. My body immediately convulses at the new sensation.

Don't think.

He becomes more confident and begins rocking two of his fingers in and out of me, still lavishing my breasts with attention. I feel some strange tightening in my abdomen the longer he does this. But something's telling me that it just isn't enough. He lightly runs his thumb around my vulva, like he's looking for something.

It seems that Link can sense that something is wrong because he pulls away from my chest and looks at my face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I assure him. "Nothing is wrong."

"What do you want me to do?"

I wrack my brain for things Urbosa and the older maids told me are enjoyable. Nothing. My mind is completely blank. Well, I'm not overthinking anything.

"There's something that I would like to try, if you don't mind." I give my consent, and he kisses further down my body, still pumping his fingers in and out of me, though he has added a third finger.

He kisses around my thighs, and I realize what he wants to try. A million concerns begin to cross my mind.

What if I smell weird?

What if I taste bad?

What about my pubic hair? That can't feel good on his face. What if some get in his mouth? That's gross.

What is this going to feel like?

DON'T THINK!

He carefully licks the outside of my vagina, and I shudder. Somehow this feels better than his fingers did. He seems to know just what to do as he licks deeper and deeper into my body.

He uses one hand to spread out my lips and the other one reaches for my hand. I gladly interlock our fingers and give his hand a reassuring squeeze.

Despite seeming to know what to do, there is a fair amount of inexperience. His licks are not very confident, and he keeps looking up at me for confirmation.

He eventually gets the hang of it. Once he discovers my clitoris I am basically done. My body goes limp as he focuses his efforts on that bundle of nerves. His arms go under my legs to angle my body better and grabs onto my hips. Goddesses this is glorious.

My hips begin to move of their own accord, attempting to get somehow closer to him.

I am briefly able to open my eyes and just see his shaggy head of hair between my thighs. Some part of me believes that it is the greatest sight I have ever seen.

My body begins to tense and I feel that knot in my stomach tightening. Unintelligible words start flowing from my mouth. I am sure some of them are his name.

And suddenly the knot feels like it broke. I feel my entire being relax and I feel as though I may sink into the bed. He keeps his mouth on me until my orgasm runs out. "Stop."

"What?" He pulls away from me, panicked.

"Sorry, just suddenly I feel really sensitive um down there." I pull him by the arm down on top of me and kiss him soundly. Our necklaces uncomfortably pressed between us. I pull at the chains, taking the charms from between us.

"I take it that you enjoyed that?" He laughs as I nibble on his earlobe.

"Yes, I did." I take his earrings off and place them on the bedside table, before tugging on the flesh they once occupied with my teeth.

"Are you um..." I feel the heat coming off of his face as he assaults my neck.

"Yes." I gulp. "I am ready. Are you?"

He laughs slightly. "Haven't you ever heard that the wedding is for the bride and the wedding night is for the groom?"

He begins to kiss me again as we laugh, fondling my nipple as he aligns our bodies. I still feel rather drained from my orgasm, but my muscles tense. "Relax."

I breathe in deeply a few times and force my muscles to relax. He lightly traces my face with his fingers as he waits for my okay.

Don't think.

I nod to him and hold onto his cheek, leading his mouth to mine.

I feel his hand slowly guide his erect member between my folds. His hand stays down there as he slowly fits himself inside of me.

This is odd. I feel myself stretching internally. It doesn't hurt exactly. I guess my hymen isn't an issue.

Not that it feels like the greatest thing in the world, that is.

It just feels kind of strange. Though my husband seems to enjoy it, he shivers and releases my lips as he moans. "Zelda."

He's staying still, probably for my benefit. I experimentally raise my hips, and it draws him in deeper. He groans loudly, and his head drops into the crook of my neck. "You can move."

"You sure?" I nod. He starts moving slowly in and out. His breathing is heavy, and I know that this isn't going to last long. "What can I do? What can I do to make this better for you?"

"I don't know." I admit. He ducks his head down a little bit more and begins sucking on my neck and throat. I moan softly mostly to make him feel better. He moves his hand down to where we are joined and lightly presses around my clitoris. My eyes flutter shut, and I gasp.

"That better?"

"Nayru yes." He presses harder on my clitoris and slightly picks up speed. Though the knot in my stomach doesn't tie up again, this feels incredible.

He speeds up slightly, and it starts to feel better like inside. I arc my back and press our chests together.

"I'm...I'm not going to...last much longer." He informs me.

"It's fine." I pant.

"Fuck." He pants into my neck. Any other time I would have scolded him.

Sometime later, I'm not really sure, he collapses on top of me, releasing his...sperm into me. His breath hot and wet against my throat.

"Did you?"

"No, but I'm fine. I'm fine."

He perches his chin on the top of my breast and smiles at me. The boyish grin on his face is not one I've seen before. Normally even his smiles are serious. He can be silly from time to time, always when we're alone, but it's still rare. His hair sticks to his forehead and he reaches up to cup my cheek in his hand.

I nuzzle his palm slightly and brush the tawny hair from his face. "I love you."

"I love you, too." He smiles. "What did I do to deserve you?"

"You've done more than enough." I promise. Somehow, he pulls himself up to my face and kisses me.

 **AN:**

 **I done did it! They done did it!**


	26. Our Happy Beginning

**AN:**

 **You're safe now. No more smut, I promise. Though intercourse is mentioned, no graphic depictions will happen. I am still not Nintendo.**

 **This is it, the final chapter.**

After I went to go to the bathroom like Impa said, I lay down next to him. He sleepily pulls me closer and kisses me sloppily. "I love you." The lights outside are bright. While today was the happiest day of our lives, for the kingdom it was an excuse to party. They've been celebrating since this morning.

"I love you, too." I rest my head on his broad, muscular chest. "We're married."

"We are." He grins.

"We're finally alone."

"Yes."

"We've waited almost a year for this."

"We have." He pushes my hair out of my face. "I keep feeling like someone's going to burst in and I'm going to be executed or something."

"That's something to think about on your wedding night."

"To be fair, I've been under threat of death for a while." True.

"Not anymore." He rolls over and hovers over me.

"Not anymore." He smirks and kisses me. His lips are soft and gentle. I cup his jaw in my hands, enjoying the tender love. I suddenly hear cheering.

"Wait, what time is it?" I sit up, pushing him off me, and look at the Sheikah Slate. "It's almost midnight." I start to get up and look for my robe.

"What? Why are you getting up?" He remains in bed.

"It's the Day of Falling Stars. I want to go watch." I throw his robe at him.

"Really? That's what you're thinking about right now?"

"Says the man who thought about his own execution. Now get dressed, someone may see us." He begrudgingly gets out of bed and dressed, following me to the balcony. At precisely midnight, the sky lights up with falling stars. All around us, streams of light fall from the sky. It's incredible to see. It's something I've seen twenty times now, but it never ceases to amaze me. Castle Town is filled with people cheering and having fun. They probably won't be done until the sun rises.

My husband, on the other hand, is very determined to go back to bed. He stands behind me, kissing my neck and shoulder. His attempts of distracting me are working.

"Stop it!" I whine, though I do also press my back more against his chest. "It will be over soon, I promise. Then we can return to bed."

"No." He takes his mouth away from skin just long enough to say a single syllable. His hands slip under my robe, and I'm a goner. He picks me up and carries me back inside the room.

We stay up most of the rest of the night, talking and um…enjoying our time alone. We collect the star fragment which fell onto our balcony. "It means that the goddesses approve of our marriage."

"Really?"

"Yes, it's the last fragment to fall. It's their way of telling us. My father still has the one from his wedding."

"How did anyone figure this out?"

"I don't know, it's been known for a long time. How do we know anything about the goddesses?"

"It makes an excellent lamp."

"You're terrible." I roll my eyes and put the glass case over it. "We're going to put it on the shelf."

"With the water?" After the ceremony, Hannah brought the bottle to our suite and placed it on the mantle. It's made of a special glass which keeps the water from evaporating, so it should last forever.

"Yes."

"We need another thing to put up there, so it's like symmetrical. For some reason I like things to be in odd numbers, especially three's."

"So do I. Um…the blanket? So it can be a shelf of stuff with our wedding?"

"Fine with me." I grab the blanket off of our couch and arrange the three items on the shelf. I left Link in bed. "Zelda!"

"I'm coming back." I roll my eyes and join him.

"Good." He pulls me closer to him, and I rest my head on his chest.

"What a perfectly happy ending to our terrible fairytale."

"Happy ending?" He turns to look at me. "I think this is our happy beginning."


End file.
